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\fe-c\~. ^UvyvA rs 


BASEBALL 

IN OLD CHICAGO 


Compiled and Written by the 
FEDERAL WRITERS’ PROJECT (ILLINOIS) 
WORK PROJECT ADMINISTRATION 


Sponsored by 
The Forest Park 
Baseball Museum, Inc. 




1939 


A. C. McCLURG & CO. 


CHICAGO 





no 


/ 

0 - 


Copyright, 1939 


GVV&3 

,Tf 


By Forest Park Baseball Museum, Inc. 


FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY 
WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION 
F. C. Harrington, Commissioner 
Florence Kerr, Assistant Commissioner 
John D. Newsom, Director of the Federal Writers 9 Project 


Printed in the United States of America 
©Cl A 1 32798 


OCT -9 1939 


FOREWORD 


Members of the Illinois Project of the WPA Federal Writers’ 
Program are engaged in the preparation of a number of individual 
studies of the social history of the State. Among these one of the 
most valuable, both in its revelation of the life of the past and its 
relation to the interests of today, is the present volume, Baseball in 
Old Chicago. Here is presented in compact form, for the host of 
readers who are interested in the national game, the colorful story 
of its origin and early development in the Chicago area. 

Many persons have assisted in the preparation of this book. I 
wish to express especial thanks to members of the library staffs of 
the Chicago Public Library, the Newberry Library, the Crerar Li¬ 
brary, and the Harper Memorial Library of the University of Chicago; 
Charles Spink, of Philadelphia, for permission to use material from 
Spink Sport Stories , written and published by his father, the late 
A1 Spink; the office of Kenesaw M. Landis, national commissioner of 
baseball; Henry F. Edwards, director of the service bureau of the 
American League of Baseball Clubs, and Miss Louise Nessel, secre¬ 
tary; Miss Margaret Donahue, secretary of the Chicago Cubs. 

Also, I am grateful for the assistance of William E. Golden, 
deputy clerk of the Cook County Court, Chicago, an old-time player 
and fan, for enlisting the aid of R. C. Weichbrodt (Skel Roach) now 
a justice of the peace in Oak Park, Illinois; Charles (Dot) Ebert, 
minute clerk of the Cook County Court; and Thomas Keegan, bailiff 
of the Cook County Court, all old-time players. 

Finally, I wish to express my sincere appreciation of the work of 
Edwina Guilfoil of this project, whose research and writing are 
responsible for the existence of the book, and to Sam Gilbert, Clair 
Cotterill, W. H. Williamson, and Frank Holland also of the project, 
who gave valuable assistance. 

John T. Frederick 
Regional Director 
Federal Writers’ Project 



INTRODUCTION 


From the first click of the turnstiles to the last crack of the bat, 
a baseball game is perhaps the most truly American of anything in 
the United States. A few other games — cricket in England and 
pelota in the Basque country of Spain — share this characteristic 
nationalism, but none approaches baseball in the millions of its 
followers and the warmth of their devotion. 

For baseball is a true growth of the American soil, owing little 
or nothing to foreign games, and it holds a place in the hearts of 
nearly all Americans. What American has never, in his youthful 
days, held a bat in his hands and whaled wildly at a ball lobbed over 
the plate by a tow-headed, freckle-faced youngster? What man of 
mature years has never rubbed his “ketcher’s mitt” with lard pur¬ 
loined from his mother’s pantry, or counted a genuine league base¬ 
ball among his treasures? What man — or woman — has never sat 
in the stands and yelled, “Sock it, Butch!” or felt a tingling in the 
spine as Butch obligingly clouted the ball far and wide? Such 
persons there probably are, but they should be pitied, for they have 
missed something of their birthright as Americans. 

What other game could, in one of its tense moments, inspire 
dignified judges and bankers to wring their thirty-dollar panamas into 
pulp, and clerks to smash their ninety-eight-cent straws? What but 
sheer baseball madness could cause a lady to beat her thousand- 
dollar parasol to bits over the head of a stranger, as did one famous 
actress of years gone by? At a baseball game the fan, for an hour 
or two, lives life in the raw; crude, savage, elemental life, with no 
law but the law of the jungle: victory to the strongest or craftiest! 
He shrieks “Kill that umpire!” and for the moment feels he could 
throttle the unlucky man with his bare hands. 


Yet it is only a game, with no actual savagery or brutality in it. 
If the attendants and officials are vigilant, keeping pop-bottles and 
other weapons out of reach, no mayhem will be committed. At the 
end of the game, the real dyed-in-the-wool fan goes home, hoarse, 
disheveled, limp, but actually purified by his experience. He has 
blown off his steam, and for another week or another month, depend¬ 
ing upon the real gentleness of his nature, he can be a kindly parent 
and a good citizen. Baseball is an excellent safety-valve. 

Some people decry the crudity of baseball, its ungentlemanly 
attitudes, its frank emphasis on winning, but these are an integral 
part of the game’s Americanism. Baseball has built its own code of 
sportsmanship, a rough but democratic one: a fair race for all; 
beyond that, no favors asked or given. 

Baseball is just one hundred years old. In 1839, Abner 
Doubleday, a young civil engineer of Cooperstown, New York, and 
later a Union general in the Civil War, created the game by laying 
out a playing field and formulating rules essentially the same as 
those of today. Since that time our national pastime has gone 
through numerous changes of rules and organization, but none of 
these has been fundamental. 

The one hundredth anniversary of baseball’s beginning is a 
fitting time to review the early years when the game was reaching 
those heights of popularity which make it our national game. This 
brief book is not intended to be a general history of baseball, for 
that has been written before, but is limited to its formative years in 
Chicago from the earliest games to 1900. 

This year was selected as a stopping point because it marks the 
beginning of a new era in the game. Before 1900, organized base¬ 
ball struggled along more or less uncertainly, with the National 
League the only organization of real strength and permanence. At 
the turn of the century, the American League came into being, and 
professional baseball boomed as never before, because of the drive 
given to it by the rivalry between the two leagues. 

Despite its increasing popularity, something went out of base¬ 
ball, too, around 1900. Having existed primarily as a sport, it was 
destined to become a business. The old baseball parks were crude 
and unattractive, but spectators went to see games, not to gaze at the 


scenery and trimmings provided. It was not as good a show, per¬ 
haps, but it was lit up by its own color and not by decorations. The 
players of that day were a rough and swaggering crew who played 
for the glory and a little cash, with no hope of breakfast food 
endorsements or radio engagements. 

Another reason for limiting this book to the baseball of the last 
century is that the last really important changes came in 1887, when 
the pitcher was given greater freedom in his delivery. Since that 
time the rule-makers have done little but clarify the rules and 
smooth out some of the rough spots. Hence the period from the 
1890’s onward is considered the era of modern baseball. 

But the chief reason for going back into the nineteenth century 
is that baseball after 1900 is adequately chronicled. The records 
since then are complete and easily available. Sports writers have no 
difficulty in looking up baseball facts of the twentieth century, but 
when they delve into the earlier years they discover a mass of con¬ 
flicting stories, incomplete records, and fragmentary material. This 
is especially true when their search has to do with some particular 
player or team. 

This book is further restricted to the teams and players of 
Chicago. Chicago holds a position in baseball second to none. Its 
franchise in the National League is counted as the first in honor of 
William A. Hulbert, the Chicagoan whose efforts made and preserved 
the league, of which Chicago and Boston are the only surviving 
charter members. 

Chicago teams asserted their supremacy early, and have been 
strong contenders for national honors in most years. More im¬ 
portant than this, however, is the claim for Chicago’s leadership 
advanced by the late Charles A. Comiskey. “Commy” once said 
that Chicago is the best baseball city in the country, because of 
the loyalty displayed by Chicago fans, who support their teams 
enthusiastically, in bad years as well as in good ones. 

And so this book is an attempt to re-create for the fan of today 
the half-forgotten, almost legendary exploits of diamond heroes who 
wore handle-bar mustaches and caught barehanded behind the bat, 
scorning mitts and gloves as sissy inventions when they were first 
introduced. It is not a record book, with dreary pages of tabulations 


and massed statistics. Meant to be read and enjoyed, it is an en¬ 
deavor to bring to life again those heroic players who spread the 
fame of Chicago on the baseball diamonds of the nation. Here on 
these printed pages walk the spirits of Cap Anson and A1 Spalding; 
of Kelley, Dalrymple, and Gore, mighty sluggers of their time; of 
fleet-footed Jimmy Wood and Billy Sunday; of Pfeifer and William¬ 
son, greatest infielders of their day; of Tom Foley, who first brought 
“big-league” baseball to Chicago; of Pinkham, Clarkson, Goldsmith, 
and Corcoran, great among the old-time hurlers, and lesser stars 
who have made Chicago baseball great. 


Chicago 1939 


THE EARLY YEARS 


When First Just when baseball was first played in Chicago is 
Played uncertain. Probably there were games between 

pick-up teams before the newspapers considered 
the new game worthy of notice, but as Chicago was only a raw 
frontier villag^in 1839 when Abner Doubleday gave the game its 
present form, it is not* likely that the early settlers had much time 
or inclination for organized sports. Baseball appears to have gained 
a foothold in Chicago some time in the 1850’s, for on July 21, 1858, 
a convention was held by the Chicago Base Ball Club, at which the 
rules governing the Association and Congress of Base Ball Clubs of 
New York were adopted by local teams. 

A team called the Unions is said to have played in Chicago in 
1856, but the earliest newspaper report of a baseball game is found 
in the Chicago Daily Journal of August 17, 1858, which tells of a 
match game between the Unions and the Excelsiors to be played on 
August 19. A few other games were mentioned during the same year. 

Baseball No account of Chicago baseball would be complete 

on the without some notice of the game as played else- 

Prairies where in the Middle West. There were well 

established teams throughout the state of Illinois 
as early as those of Chicago, if not earlier. Indeed, the Lockport 
Telegraph of August 6, 1851, tells of a game between the Hunkidoris 
of Joliet and the Sleepers of Lockport, that antedates anything 
similar for Chicago. 

Certainly the prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and other nearby states 
have produced many fine baseball players, and since pre-Civil War 
days the game has been a favorite sport of Midwestern youth. The 
records of these players and their teams are closely related to Chi¬ 
cago baseball. The prairie teams were natural rivals of Chicago 
teams, and many of their players rose to stardom after coming to 
play on the Chicago teams. In early days the prairie states were a 

1 


reservoir of talent on which Chicago drew to rise to baseball fame. 

While the game was looked upon at first as a somewhat effete 
pastime, largely because the famous Knickerbocker Club of New 
York tried to make it a “gentlemen’s game” like cricket, its whole¬ 
some qualities made a strong appeal to the vigorous young men 
of the Middle West, so that this section was not slow to follow the 
lead of the East in adopting the game. 

Baseball In a small book like this there is no room for a 

Truly long discussion of the origin of baseball, but the 

American national character of the game demands some 

notice of its beginnings. Beyond all question it 
is an American game, and owes little or nothing to other countries. 
While Doubleday, as already noted, made baseball what it is today, 
the game was played in some form before he drew up his rules. 
Oliver Wendell Holmes mentioned it as having been played by his 
college mates in 1829, but what he referred to was probably not 
baseball as we know it. Still, some similar game was played before 
Doubleday’s time, and his contribution, great as it was, only served 
to make it a really good game. 

The notion that cricket is the ancestor of baseball is not to be 
accepted. There is only a slight resemblance of the one game to 
the other, while the differences are too great to admit any close 
relationship. Baseball appears to owe much more to a game called 
“town ball,” which was played on a square field, with four bases, 
one at each corner of the square; a home plate on one side of the 
square, midway between the first and fourth bases, with the pitcher’s 
box in the middle of the square. As town ball was strictly an 
American invention, it will be seen that baseball is well removed 
from any suspicion of a foreign origin. 

First Although the regulations of the Knickerbocker 

National Club served as a guide to other baseball organiza- 

Organization tions, the rapid growth of the game between 1850 

and 1860 made some general organization desir¬ 
able. In 1858, representatives of many prominent clubs met and 
organized the National Association of Base Ball Players. This 

2 


body not only governed the rules and regulations of its members, 
but made its influence felt in state and local organizations, which 
either submitted to its authority, or adopted its rules. 

Baseball Baseball’s growth was retarded by the Civil War. 

and the Some writers state, however, that the war had a 

Civil War beneficial effect on the game, because the soldiers 
brought back a taste for the sport, acquired from 
playing it in army camps. That may be true, but on the other hand, 
the absence of these young men from their homes during the war 
years had a dampening influence on the development of the game. 
Many prominent clubs disbanded during the war years, among them 
the Excelsiors of Chicago, and baseball, so far as Chicago was con¬ 
cerned, practically ceased to exist as an organized sport. It seems 
likely that if its progress had not been thus hindered, the game 
would have reached its peak of development at an earlier date. 

Fortunately, the rebound after the war was rapid. In the Chicago 
Daily Republican of August 17, 1865, we read: 

“The old Excelsior base ball club, which a few years ago was 
one of the institutions of our city, has been reorganized, and will 
hereafter be willing to meet all comers. The club was organized 
in 1857 and for three years played regularly and became known as 
one of the best clubs in the west. After the breaking out of the 
War many of its members enlisted, and the club was thus broken up. 
With the return of peace the members have once more organized the 
old club, and now they practice regularly, twice a week, on their new 
grounds on the corner of May and West Lake streets. The officers are 
W. W. Kennedy, president; S. S. Budd, vice president; G. C. Smith, 
treasurer; G. H. Kennedy, secretary. They play according to the 
rules of the national base ball association in every particular. A 
game between two nines of the club was played yesterday afternoon, 
in which they showed that they have not forgotten the exercise of the 
club, while engaged in the use of the rifle.” 

Other Although the years from 1865 to 1869 brought 

Teams of the revival of other baseball clubs in Chicago, 
the 1860 9 s the Excelsiors were the most prominent and de¬ 
feated other local teams consistently. However, baseball activity 


3 


was running so high in the period that there were dozens of similar 
amateur teams, some newcomers, others bearing names of pre-war 
clubs. Many were insignificant and short-lived, but several chal¬ 
lenged the supremacy of the Excelsiors, among them the Atlantics, 
the Eurekas, the Ogdens, and the Garden City team; of these, only 
the Atlantics were serious rivals. 

First The first baseball tournament* in which Chicago 

Baseball teams participated was held in Rockford. This 

Tournament small city holds the honor of having risen to base¬ 
ball fame and success before Chicago did. Rock¬ 
ford appears to have had a greater proportion of fans among its 
population than was usual at that time, and already its Forest City 
team, later to achieve national prominence, was known as a strong 
outfit. In June of 1866, Rockford citizens decided to hold a tourna¬ 
ment to decide the baseball “championship of the Northwest.” They 
offered as first prize a gold baseball of regulation size (weight not 
given), and as second prize a gold-mounted bat made of rosewood. 
Not to be outdone in enthusiasm, the ladies of Rockford added two 
contributions to the prize list: a bouquet for the best batter, and a 
floral wreath for the one who made the most home runs. 

Clubs entered were the Atlantics of Chicago; the Detroits of 
Detroit; the Bloomingtons of Bloomington, Ill.; the Cream Citys of 
Milwaukee; the Empires and the Schaffers of Freeport, Ill.; the 
Excelsiors of Chicago; and the Forest Citys of Rockford. The 
Excelsiors won and brought home the golden baseball, a silver tea 
set for the most graceful playing, and the floral wreath, which went 
to J. W. Stearns for making the most home runs. 

Second So successful was the Rockford tournament that 

Tournament Bloomington staged another in the early autumn. 

An even more impressive entry list included the 
Union and Empire clubs of St. Louis; the Olympics of Peoria; the 
Pacifies of Chicago; the Perseverance club of Ottawa; the Louisville 
and Olympic clubs of Louisville; the Cream Citys of Milwaukee; 
the Forest City and Empire clubs of Freeport; the Capitol club of 

•Dubuque appears to have held a tournament in 1865, hut there is no record that Chicago 

had entries. 


4 


Springfield; the Hardin club of Jacksonville, Ill.; two Quincy clubs; 
and the Excelsiors of Chicago. A feature of this tournament was a 
specially built amphitheatre designed to allow spectators to witness 
two games at once. Just how this could be done without considerable 
neck-straining the early chronicler neglected to state. Again the 
Excelsiors were victorious, taking the series in impressive style. 

National Followers of the Excelsiors were feeling quite 

Aspirations chesty when the season of 1867 opened. As win- 

A dipped ners of two tournaments the previous year, they 

felt that their team was ripe for national honors. 
Formerly, the haughty clubs of the Eastern states, believing baseball 
on the prairies to be greatly inferior to the brand played in their 
section, scarcely deigned to notice the Middle West. But in 1867 
the National club of Washington D. C., reputedly the best of the 
Eastern teams, decided to make a tour of the West. Their visit to 
Chicago was made the occasion of another tournament. This time 
the Excelsiors went down to ignominious defeat, losing to the 
Nationals by a score of 49 to 4, on July 27. 

Newspapers The surprise of the tournament, what today would 
Accuse be called an upset, was the defeat of the Nationals 

Nationals by the Rockford Forest City club, in a game played 

July 25, by a score of 29 to 23. As the Excelsiors 
had beaten the Forest Citys in a game not long before this, the Chi¬ 
cago newspapers considered them the better team. Not content with 
twitting the Washington club over its defeat at the hands of a 
backwoods team, as they styled the Forest Citys, some of them went 
a bit too far, and insinuated that the Rockford team’s victory was not 
strictly on the level. One paper in particular made a direct charge 
that the contest was thrown, partly for the sake of getting better 
attendance at the later games of the tournament, and partly for the 
benefit of gamblers. 

This was one of the first times on record, if not the very first, in 
which suspicion of crooked playing was voiced openly about an im¬ 
portant team, and, the charges were absurd. The Rockford club, 
fast becoming known as the strongest of the Western teams, happened 

5 


to catch the Nationals on an off day. It was the only game lost by 
Washington on its tour. The writer who made the accusation was 
probably inspired more by enthusiasm for the local teams than by 
malice, and his paper subsequently apologized to the visitors. 

Rise of The incident of 1867 showed how seriously the 

Profession - fans were beginning to take their baseball. One 

alism thrust in the newspaper accusation touched a sore 

point — the matter of gate receipts. Up to this 
time baseball was played primarily for the sake of the sport. The 
clubs were amateur groups that had banded together for the pur¬ 
pose of playing the game. Admission fees were charged merely to 
defray expenses; but with attendance figures running into the thou¬ 
sands at the more important games it soon became evident that there 
was money in baseball. Still, this was not the only reason for the 
advent of paid teams. There is no doubt that during the 1860’s local 
pride had in some instances caused the offering of inducements to 
promising players. Probably this was done on what we would 
now call a semi-professional basis — finding jobs for the men and 
helping them in other indirect ways. Up to 1868, there were no 
clubs on a frankly professional basis, with a salary list and a definite 
schedule of payments. 

Cincinnati’s Red Stockings are generally conceded to have been 
the first out-and-out professional team. There is evidence that they 
received money for playing in 1868, and in 1869 they startled the 
baseball world by coming out in the open and announcing them¬ 
selves professionals. Commenting on the move, the National Chron¬ 
icle said, “Had the Cincinnati Base Ball Club depended upon home 
talent it would never have been heard from outside of its own 
locality, and determined to have the best nine in the country, the 
club selected the best players to be found in the Eastern clubs, and 
paid them $1,000 each to play from April to October.” Evidently 
professional baseball was not as yet a high road to prosperity. 

First After the Chicago amateurs had gone through the 

Chicago season of 1868 and 1869 with but little success, 

Professionals it was apparent that Chicago could not compete 
against the strong teams that had obtained good players by 

6 


paying them. In the fail of 1869, a professional organization to be 
known as the Chicago Base Ball Association was formed. Potter 
Palmer was the president, and the list of organizers included the 
names of many other distinguished Chicago men, such as W. F. 
Wentworth, General Phil Sheridan, N. C. Wentworth, C. B. Farwell, 
S. J. Medill, J. M. Higgins, W. W. Sprague, D. A. Gage, and others. 
Twenty thousand dollars was subscribed, and it was planned to 
offer a flat salary of $1,200 for the season, which was expected to 
lure players away from clubs paying less. 

As manager and general factotum, they engaged Tom Foley, 
proprietor of the city’s principal billiard hall, whose chief qualifi¬ 
cation for the post appears to have been that he was in close contact 
with the sporting element of his day.* Under such auspices Chicago 
plunged into organized professional baseball. 

End of With the organization of the Chicago professional 

an Era club came the formation of professional teams all 

over the country. Amateur baseball was henceforth 
to be played only in the schools and colleges, and by sand-lot and 
juvenile nines. Many chroniclers are inclined to shed a tear over the 
passing of amateurism, yet on the whole it was a healthy development. 
Amateur teams could not stand the strain of traveling expenses, 
problems of management, maintenance of grounds, and at the same 
time keep themselves free from suspicion like that of 1867. 

Among the teams listed as professionals before the opening of 
the 1870 season there were, in addition to Chicago and the Cincin¬ 
nati Red Stockings, the Atlantics and Eckfords of Brooklyn, the 
Athletics of Philadelphia, the Kentuckys of Louisville, the Mutuals 
of New York, the Marylands of Baltimore, the Nationals of Wash¬ 
ington, the Trimountains of Boston, and others of almost equal promi¬ 
nence. Only the Chicagos, the Cincinnatis, the Kentuckys, the New 
York Mutuals, and the Marylands were salaried teams. The others 
were paid with shares of gate receipts or with political jobs. Rock¬ 
ford’s Forest City club is not mentioned as being professional at 
this time, but there is no doubt that it paid its players in some way 
as early as 1870 and probably before that. 

**However, Foley was an amateur player of some repute. 

7 



Baseball The 1865-1869 era witnessed a phenomenal growth 

Enthusiasm of public enthusiasm for the game. Baseball is 
admittedly one of the best sports from the spec¬ 
tator’s viewpoint, with ample action and thrills and few details of 
the play that cannot be clearly seen. A match game between two 
first-class nines was then, as now, sure to attract large crowds, and 
in the 1860’s the baseball fan was already an established institution. 
Perhaps he had not reached the stage of umpire-baiting and bottle¬ 
throwing, but his partisanship was suitably hot and often noisy. 


Beginning of Some one has said that the spirit of baseball 
Baseball depends upon three things; the players, the fans, 

Writing and the sports writers. The latter have done much 

to make baseball what it is, by keeping the fans 
well informed, and creating public interest in the teams. In the 
early days, the newspapers touched rather lightly on the games, but 
by the post-Civil War period, many reporters could write in technical 
fashion. If they did not originate such terms as “muffed the ball” 
and “hot grounder,” they at least helped to bring them into general 
use. Like the writers of today, also, they were adept at making the 
other team’s victory look like a fluke, and finding consolation in the 
“superb fielding” or other good points of the losing club. 


“Muffin” It seems that nearly every man of the period. 

Games and regardless of age or athletic ability, attempted to 
Other play baseball. Chicago had dozens of obscure 

Oddities amateur teams, representing commercial institu¬ 

tions like the Field-Leiter department store, Potter 
Palmer’s, and Farwell’s. Some were formed by postoffice and opera 
house workers. Others were made up of groups like the Tele¬ 
graphers, for perhaps a game or two, but without permanent organi¬ 
zation. One game played between two teams of Chicago Aldermen 
was described by a newspaper writer as the “basest ball yet.” 


Even the women of the period were not immune. In Henry 
Chadwick’s Ball Players 9 Chronicle , issue of July 25, 1867, we read: 

“The Base Ball Disease has attacked the women, the young ladies 


8 


of Pensacola, Fla., having organized a baseball club. One of the 
rules is that whenever any member gets entangled in her steel wire 
and falls, she is to be immediately expelled from the club. A young 
ladies’ base ball club has also been organized at Niles, Michigan.” 

The steel wire referred to is the framework of the hoopskirts worn 
at the time. Baseball in hoopskirts! It must have been a sight worth 
going miles to see! 

Another whimsical form of baseball was the widely prevalent 
“muffin” games. In its narrowest sense, “muffin” was simply a 
match between inexperienced players, sometimes the least skillful 
members of the big clubs. A “muff” or “muffin” became a bit of 
baseball jargon denoting a bad play, but the old-time muffin games 
were something more than mere exhibitions of bungling and inex¬ 
perience. The players made their lack of skill a feature of the play 
rather than a drawback, and turned their performance into a bur¬ 
lesque exhibition that was sometimes quite funny. Outfielders 
would lie down on the grass, and do no more than point a lazy finger 
in the direction a hit had gone, to help some more energetic member 
retrieve the ball. Small sums of money were often secreted under 
the bases, on the understanding that the first runner to reach that 
base could claim it as a reward, or a keg of beer would be placed at 
second base as an incentive to the hitters and baserunners. It was 
even against the rules of some muffin games to catch a fly ball. 

Making During the winter of 1869-1870, Manager Tom 

the New Foley went to work at his task of getting together 

Chicago Team a group of first-class ball players for Chicago. 

It was not as easy as had been expected. The 
plan of offering $1,200 as against the prevailing rate of $1,000 a 
season established by other teams proved to be no strong inducement 
in luring players, and in several instances it was found necessary to 
raise the ante. To get William H. Craver, star catcher of the Hay¬ 
makers of Troy, N. Y., $2,500 was required. The services of 
Jimmy Wood, who was to play second base and act as captain, were 
obtained for $2,000. Other members of the team, according to the 
Lakeside Monthly, a Chicago periodical of that time, received $1,500 
each. Among the famous Eastern clubs raided by determined Man- 

9 


ager Foley were the Athletics of Philadelphia, the Eckfords of New 
York, and Troy and Lansingburgh teams. 

As there were no players’ contracts or reserve rules at the time, 
Foley’s action in outbidding other clubs was just as ethical as that 
of a businessman who offers higher pay to the crack salesman of a 
rival concern. Nevertheless, Foley’s raiding caused great bitterness 
of feeling, especially among Eastern sports writers, who were pos¬ 
sibly a bit jealous of the idea that Chicago was out to challenge the 
superiority of their vaunted Eastern clubs. 

Unfair Eastern writers ridiculed the upstart pretensions 

Tactics of the Chicago Club, calling it “Foley’s What-Is- 

Charged It,” and jeering at the notion that a team so or¬ 

ganized and directed could prove successful. They 
also alleged that Foley obtained some of his players by getting 
drunk with them, and, while they were pleasantly fuddled, advancing 
them sums of money. At least one player admitted having taken 
money from Foley, but denied having agreed to play for Chicago. 

“Revolvers” The Eastern scribes coined the term “revolver” 

Frowned which, as applied to baseball meant, not a shoot- 

Upon ing iron, but a player who jumped from one team 

to another. They cited the case of Fred Treacy, 
a former Brooklyn player, who in 1870 joined the Chicago Club 
after having been a member of five other teams in the space of three 
years. Charles Hodes, another member of the new team, was also 
tagged as a revolver. 

All these bitter words and harsh accusations are but evidence of 
the chaotic conditions that marked the start of professional ball 
playing. Several years elapsed before clear-visioned men saw the 
need of a strong hand to prevent the worst abuses of a commercialized 
sport. 

Chicago Up to this time, Chicago baseball clubs had used 

Gets New their own club grounds, or one of the numerous 

Ball Park fields about the city, mostly on what is now 

identified as the near West Side. Two of the better playing fields 

10 


were the one at West Lake and May Streets, and Ogden Park, at the 
foot of Ontario street, home of the Ogden Skating Club. Ogden 
Park was used later by amateur clubs for many tournaments and 
exhibition games. But now, with a brand new professional nine, 
facetiously called the $15,000 club, the organizers of the Chicago 
club had to have a suitable park, one that could accommodate the 
thousands of paying customers that were expected. They chose 
Dexter Park as the home of their high-priced stars, and improved 
the field. Not new to baseball, for important games had been played 
there before — it was the scene of the disastrous tournament with 
the Washington Nationals in 1867 — Dexter Park was really a race 
track, with the baseball diamond inside the oval. 


CHICAGO BASEBALL PARKS DOWN TO 1900 

1. Ogden Park. At the foot of Ontario street. Used by the 
Excelsiors and other amateur teams prior to 1870. 

2. Dexter Park, 42nd and Halsted streets. Used by amateurs 
before 1870, and by Chicago’s first professional team in 1870. 

3. Lake Park. A city-owned tract of land on the Lake front 
at the foot of Washington and Randolph streets. Used as a 
baseball field by the professional team of 1871 and amateur 
teams of 1872-1873. 

4. Twenty-third Street Park. State and 23rd streets. Used 
by the professional teams of 1874-1875, and by the first Na¬ 
tional League teams of 1876-1877. In the fall of 1877, the 
city council again leased the Lake Park grounds to the Chicago 
club, which continued to play there until 1884. 

5. Loomis Street Park. Congress and Loomis streets. Home 
of the White Stockings from 1884 until 1893. 

6. West Side Park. In the block bounded by Lincoln, Wood, 
Polk, and Taylor streets. Used by the Chicago National 
Leaguers from 1893 until after 1900. 

7. Original South Side Park, at 35th street and Wentworth 
Avenue. Used by the short-lived Chicago Brotherhood League, 
in 1890, under the management of Charles A. Comiskey. 


11 





ISo Sun Today ball diamonds are laid out so that the right 

Field in fielder, first baseman, and second baseman are the 

Those Days only players who face in the general direction of 
the afternoon sun. But the Chicago promoters 
arranged Dexter Park so that the catcher and batter looked into 
the sun, while the fielders had it at their backs. It probably did not 
occur to them that this was not desirable for the spectators, who were 
also looking west — they had in mind making it as easy as possible 
for the fielders. It was as good an arrangement as any from the play¬ 
ing standpoint of that day, for the pitchers had enough difficulty 
getting the batters out, without having the fielders blinded. 

Seats For the accommodation of red-hot fans, a special 

for the stand was built inside the track enclosure, curving 

Ladies around the home plate and first and third base 

lines. The upper tiers of seats were demountable, 
so that they could be taken down and not obstruct the view when 
races were held on the track. This seating arrangement provided 
for 12,000 persons, and in addition, a part of the race track grand¬ 
stand and the clubhouse balconies could be used. Altogether there 
was an estimated capacity of 30,000 persons, which must have been 
more than enough for a city the size of Chicago. 

There was even a special stand for the ladies built, and their 
presence at the game was looked upon as a desirable feature of the 
patronage. One writer expressed the belief that they would have a 
refining influence upon the game, and tend to repress the objection¬ 
able practices so often displayed by crowds of men. Perhaps he 
meant swearing at the umpire. 

Location Dexter Park was located about six miles southwest 

of Dexter of what is now the loop, in the vicinity of 42nd 
Park and Halsted streets, where the International Am¬ 

phitheatre now stands. Many people considered 
it entirely too far out. The park was connected with the city by a 
steam railroad and a street car line, but the street cars of that day 
were horse cars, and a six-mile ride in a horse car was not a pleasant 
experience. There was also “a smooth, attractive carriage-way,” 

12 


over which the swells went bowling along in their buggies, oblivious 
of the heat and dust and everything save the fact that they were doing 
it in style; a good nag could make the distance in a little more than 
half an hour. 

Players The roster of the Chicago club of 1870, which 

on the underwent some changes during the playing sea- 

Netc Team son, was as follows: William H. Craver, catcher; 

W. Poyne, pitcher;* Charles Hodes, shortstop; 
Michael McAtee, first base; James Wood, captain and second base; 
Edward Pinkham, third base; Edgar Cuthbert, left field; Martin 
King, center field; Fred Treacy, right field; Levi Meyerle, alternate 
pitcher; William Flynn, substitute. Pinkham, whose name some¬ 
times appears as Pinkerton, alternated as pitcher, and seems to have 
borne the brunt of the pitching duties for the season. Ed Duffy 
was hired later as shortstop. 

Officers of the club were David A. Gage, president; W. F. Went¬ 
worth, vice president; W. Lowe, secretary; William F. Tucker, 
treasurer; J. W. Bute, corresponding secretary; and the convivial 
Tom Foley, manager. 

Origin of The uniform adopted consisted of a blue cap, 

the White white shirt, blue pants, white stockings, and white 

Stockings buckskin shoes. In imitation of Cincinnati, it 

was inevitable that sports writers should christen 
the team White Stockings. The name stuck, was borne by Chicago 
teams right down to the turn of the century, and after being discarded 
for a time, was later revived for Comiskey’s American League club. 

It is true that Cap Anson’s team, in the later years of his manage¬ 
ment (1890’s), came to be called the Colts, a name that stuck until 
they were christened the Cubs. Anson himself was responsible for 
the change of name, however, because he referred to the green 
players on his teams as a bunch of colts. There was no good reason 
for the change, any more than there was for calling the Washington 
team the Senators, when they were entitled to be called the Nationals. 

•Mystery surrounds this player. His name also appears as Burnes or Byrnes, and he 
dropped out of sight soon after the season began. 

13 



One point that is often argued in the Hot Stove League can be 
settled. The present Chicago National League club is the lineal 
descendant of the first professional Chicago team. On the other 
hand, the White Sox carry the proudest name in Chicago baseball, 
rescued from oblivion by the late Charles A. Comiskey. 

Spring Tour Spring training camps and training tours did not 

of the White exist in 1870. Yet it is remarkable to read that 

Stockings the White Stockings, as a sort of overture to the 

season, went South during the spring of that year. 
Apparently there was no idea of training behind the tour, for the 
Chicago Club had already engaged in several games before leaving 
for the South late in April, among them a contest with the students 
of the old University of Chicago. 

The Southern tour was highly successful, and marked by a 
number of incidents gratifying to Chicago fans. The Eastern papers, 
still irked by Chicago’s bid for baseball honors, pooh-poohed the 
string of White Stocking victories, asserting that they had played 
only inferior clubs. 

The New York Clipper , however, made amends for the smug 
attitude of most Eastern papers, by saying that Chicago was “not to 
be sneezed at” in a review of its first four games. Before leaving 
for the South, the White Stockings had defeated the Amateur and 
Garden City clubs of Chicago by scores of 75 to 12 and 48 to 2, 
respectively; and had opened their tour in St. Louis with victories 
over the Union and Empire teams by scores of 41 to 1 and 36 to 8. 

Largest The most notable game of the White Stocking’s 

Score on barnstorming tour was played at Memphis, Tenn., 

Record where Chicago defeated the Memphis Bluff City 

club 157 to 1. This is claimed to be the largest 
score ever made in a game between two regularly organized teams.* 
The carnage was featured by a terrific display of batting power by 
the White Stockings, who made something over 120 safe hits. The 
actual number (possibly much higher) cannot be given accurately 
because of the peculiar method used in scoring hits, but the White 
Stockings made 119 “first base hits,” and 181 total bases on hits. 

*In 1869, two amateur teams of Buffalo, the Niagaras and the Columbias, played a game 
won by the former, 209 to 10. 


14 



Up to the sixth inning the Bluff City nine “held Chicago down 
to 84 runs.” By that time they were so tired chasing the ball that 
the score was nearly doubled in the last three innings. 

“Get on Manager Foley seems to have been a grim-humored 

With the chap. Before the visit of the White Stockings, the 

Rat-Killing” Cincinnati Red Stockings had defeated another 
Memphis club by a score of 100 to 2. Believing 
themselves superior to the other locals, the Bluff City boys had made 
bets that they would score from five to ten runs against the White 
Stockings, who, they thought, could not possibly be better than the 
Cincinnatis. At the end of the seventh inning they begged the White 
Stockings to let them score a few more runs and then call the game, 
for it was growing late. As the Chicago Tribune reported the game, 
“Tom Foley and Jimmy Wood, valuing victory of the club far 
beyond the pecuniary interest of outsiders, stubbornly refused to let 
up an atom, and ordered the boys to go on with their ‘rat-killing,’ 
which they did most effectually.” The time of this merry-go-round 
performance was three hours and twenty minutes. 

First The White Stockings also distinguished themselves 

Shut-Out by chalking up what is said to be the first shut-out 

Game game, whitewashing the Atlantic club of New 

Orleans, 51 to 0. Beyond question there had 
been some earlier contest of one sort or another in which one team 
failed to score. But the game at New Orleans was a scheduled 
match between two organized teams, and as such was unprecedented 
in the records. Shut-out games were rare in those days when the 
pitcher was handicapped by a straight-arm delivery and was com¬ 
pelled to pitch high or low as the batter demanded. 

White Stockings After picking up another victory at Ottawa, Ill., 
Launched on the way home, the White Stockings returned 

in Triumph to Chicago in triumph, not having lost a 

game on the tour. True, the Southern teams they 
had been shellacking were only amateur nines, and not the best in 
the country, at that; but what of it? In seven games they had piled 
up a total of 368 runs to their opponents’ 43, and had made baseball 

15 


history with two record games. Chicago at last had a ball club 
which promised to hold its own with the best in the country. Chicago’s 
baseball fever was up to about 108 degrees, a circumstance highly 
pleasing to the promoters and backers of the club. 

f 

Training Baseball managers and trainers of today who are 

Methods troubled by the listless playing of their athletes 

of 1870 might do well to study the methods of Tom Foley. 

On their arrival in Memphis to play the Bluff City 
club, reports the National Chronicle , “Not all the party was feeling 
well, the change of water since leaving home having begun to show 
its effects in producing bowel complaint. However, a few hours’ 
rest, a wholesome dinner, and above all plentiful doses of the brandy 
and Jamaica ginger, with which Tom Foley . . . was largely provided 
for such emergencies, sufficed to bring about a better physical 
condition all around.” 

We have all seen teams that could use a little ginger, and if it 
produced results like those at Memphis, it surely would be justified. 

Crowing While the Chicago Club wanted to win national 

over prominence, there was also an intense desire to 

Rockford down the famous Forest City club of Rockford. It 

was humiliating to the people of Chicago that 
Rockford should have the better team, and the pre-eminence of the 
Forest Citys in the Northwest had led, as much as anything, to the 
attempt to create a first class nine in the Windy City. As the baseball 
reporter of the Chicago Times put it: 

“The Forest City club of Rockford has been an eyesore to the 
base-ball admirers of Chicago for years. Not only have the country 
lads pounded the existence out of all the Garden City organizations 
for some time past, but they also gave rattling receptions to most 
visiting nines from the east. At last the lovers of the game in this 
city concluded to raise a club that would not only pulverize the 
Rockford chaps, but moreover be enabled to walk off with every 
other club in the country, including, if necessary, the redhosed 
gentlemen who rendezvous at Cincinnati and it’s no two to one that 
they have not succeeded in the entire undertaking.” 

16 


The occasion of this victory song, which started out: “The Chicago 
nine warmed them. They warmed them well. They can do it 
again . . . ,” was the defeat, on June 16, 1870, of the Forest Cibys 
by a score of 28 to 14. 

Spalding The game started with King of Chicago facing 

Attitu - the “statuesque” star pitcher of the Rockford 

dinizes nine, later to be an important figure in Chicago 

baseball. The reporter goes on to say: 

“The latter gentlemen struck one of his favorite attitudes, and 
handed in a swift one to the strike. King very cheerfully thumped 
it plumb in the middle, and while the fielders were busy gathering 
it in, amused himself by taking his second base. Then Hodes, Ward, 
[Wood] and Cuthbert kindly went through exactly the same perform¬ 
ance, two or three of them chasing each other to the home plate. 
McAtee followed suit, and then little ‘Clipper’ Flynn danced up to 
the ball and pasted it away over into the left field, bringing the two 
previous strikers home. The Forest City boys gazed at each other in 
general, and at the attitudinizing Spaulding in particular, in blank 
dismay, and the two or three thousand delegates from the Fox 
river* valley stared in silent amazement at the way the customers 
in blue and white were taking hold of the ‘cannon-ball pitcher’s’ 
delivery. Spaulding put himself into the position of the Greek slave 
and Meyerle immediately made a third base hit, Spaulding assumed 
the classic pose of Zenobia, and Craver and Pinkham batted their 
way home. Spaulding then got himself up as a figure of Srbona, at 
which King, Pinkham, Hodes, Cuthbert and Ward [Wood] ham¬ 
mered their way around the bases. McAtee was finally gobbled at 
first by a neat throw of Addy’s. Flynn and Meyerle by safe hits 
made their runs. Craver was nipped in his endeavor to hop about 
too lively at second, and Pinkham being taken in handsomely at 
left by Barstow, the side was at last out. Fifteen runs had been 
made, every one of which had been secured by the safest of batting... 

“The Forest Citys opened play at the bat by being retired in the 
prettiest one, two, three order imaginable, Hodes cutting off Addy 
at first, Barnet being nipped in endeavoring to make second, by a 
fine throw of Craver’s and Wood putting Barnes’ ball first some little 
time before that player reached there.” 


♦Should be Rock river. 


17 



Record In spite of this decisive victory over Rockford, and 

for the several other important successes, the season’s 

Season record of the 1870 team was not altogether suc¬ 

cessful. Although on November 2 the Chicago 
Evening Mail and the Chicago Evening Post voiced claims to a 
national championship for the White Stockings, their assertion was 
based largely on two victories over the New York Mutuals late in the 
year. Such is the chaotic condition of the records of that time that 
it is difficult to name a champion for the year. Newspaper files are 
incomplete, and the National Association of that time did not concern 
itself with awarding championships. Games were scheduled on a 
go-as-you-please basis, and the mythical national title was principally 
a matter of opinion, based upon such comparisons as could be made 
from the games played. 

Although the Mutuals of New York claimed the national cham¬ 
pionship in the early fall, having scored wins over some of the best 
professional teams, including Chicago, they were afterwards beaten 
by the White Stockings, and their claim seems but little better than 
that of the Chicago Club. The Atlantics of Brooklyn are sometimes 
mentioned as the 1870 champions, but they split even with the White 
Stockings in two games. 


Comparison 
with other 
Teams 


On September 7, 1870, the Evening Post published 
the following review of the White Stockings’ record 
up to that date: 


“Twice has been defeated by the Athletics of 
Philadelphia; twice by the Mutuals of New York; and once each 
by the Atlantics of Brooklyn, Haymakers of Troy, Harvards of 
Boston, and Forest Citys of Rockford, making eight games lost. The 
Chicagos have lost no games with second-class nines they have played, 
except the Harvards, and have beaten the following clubs that may 
be called first-class: The Forest Citys of Rockford, twice; the Hay¬ 
makers of Troy, once; Forest Citys of Cleveland, twice; and the 
Atlantics of Brooklyn, once.” 


However, the above list of games is far from complete, and as 
the team continued to play until about the first of November, several 
important victories and defeats are not included. Among these were 

18 


two games with their arch-rivals of the Middle West, the Cincinnati 
Red Stockings, in which the White Stockings were victorious at 
Cincinnati on September 7 (score, 10 to 6), and also at Chicago on 
October 13 (score, 16 to 13). 

W alio ping The double defeat of the Cincinnatis overshadowed 

of the Red everything else in the season, and alone would 

Stockings have made it a successful year in the minds of 

many fans. The first game, played at Cincinnati, 
rocketed baseball excitement to a new height in Chicago, and 
throughout the Middle West. 

Both teams were determined to trounce their opponents. The 
Cincinnatis wanted to put the baseball upstarts from Chicago in their 
places, while the White Stockings felt that their chief mission in base¬ 
ball was to prove that Cincinnati no longer ruled the West. Hoping 
to bolster their pitching staff, the White Stockings tried unsuccess¬ 
fully to obtain the services of William Arthur Cummings, star pitcher 
of New York, who is credited with being the first to throw curves. 
Pinkham, the regular White Hose pitcher, proved adequate, however, 
and the stellar performances of Catcher King and Shortstop Duffy 
outshone anything the Reds had to offer. 

Second Verse Partisans of the Red team claimed that their first 
Same as the loss was on the fluke order, with bad umpiring 

First more or less responsible. For the return match 

Robert Ferguson (Cincinnati’s own selection) of 
the Brooklyn Atlantic club was engaged as umpire. 

Hundreds of Cincinnatians poured into Chicago on special trains 
to witness an expected crushing revenge, and by game time Dexter 
Park was jammed with more than 12,000 spectators. Once more the 
White Stockings outbatted and outfielded the visitors from Ohio’s 
Rhineland, with Duffy again the bright star for Chicago. 

With his accustomed japery, the Chicago Times reporter wrote 
the following lead to his story: 

“Englewood, Oct. 13, 6 p.m.—A party of about 600 men 
came down on our suburb from the north a few moments ago. They 

19 


act strangely and look hungry. Please inform Superintendent 
Kennedy of their Helpless situation. 

“Later. —The invaders have departed eastward for Cincinnati. 
Several of the crowd wear white knee-breeches and red stockings. 

“Hyde Park, Oct. 13, 7 p.m.—A straggling band of roughs, 
barefooted and coatless, passed through this place a few moments 
ago toward Calumet. Their conversation indicated some great 
financial affliction. What’s up? 

“Calumet, Oct. 13, 9:30 p.m.—The people of this metropolis 
are greatly annoyed by the presence of an unusually large number 
of dangerous looking characters who appear to have come from your 
city. However, they are quite harmless, but very reticent. Among 
themselves such expressions as ‘put-up job,’ ‘d—d umpire,’ ‘dead 
broke,’ etc., are common. One hungry chap, called ‘Gris’ is 
discoursing on ‘Indian meal’ to a thoughtful squad. 

“Michigan City, Oct. 13, 12 p.m.—What in the d—l’s the 
matter? Just now a scaly-looking crowd of about 600 persons 
passed through here, and asked the best way to Cincinnati; said 
they came from Chicago. They only stopped to bathe their feet.” 


Internal The White Stockings of 1870 appear to have done 

Troubles as much scrapping off the diamond as on it, and 

of the Club this was no doubt a factor in their slightly spotty 

record. The mixture of merchant chiefs, war 
heroes, and sporting characters in the “front office” was just a little 
too mixed up to jell properly, and, after some heated spats and 
shake-ups of the officers, the shareholders began to realize that while 
professional baseball might be a business, it was not quite the same 
as keeping a store or running a hotel. Like any other new enterprise, 
it had to go through a period of growing pains before it could get 
on a smooth-running basis. The difficulties, both in playing and 
management, were in the nature of a midsummer slump, for, after 
the internal troubles had been ironed out, the team got back into a 
winning stride and ended the season as it began, with impressive 
victories. 


20 


Sports Some of the local writing fraternity, who had 

Writers hailed the White Stockings early in the season as 

Turn Sour the coming baseball wonders of the world, turned 
sour on them by early fall. There was a general 
impression in those days that to be really good, a team had to win 
practically all its games. Several sports writers attacked the club 
with a savageness not at all warranted by the facts. Here is a sample 
from the Chicago Daily Republican: 

“The champion sporting reporter has ciphered out the fact that 
the White Stockings have traveled 17,973 miles since they started 
last spring. If they had gone to the place their backers had con¬ 
signed them they would have gone to — well, how far is it to the 
place where the balls are red hot?” 

A writer in the Lakeside Monthly pleaded for the complete 
rejection of professionalism. Especially bitter over Chicago’s effort 
to make baseball a money-making business, he says: 

“This [the financial and playing success of the Cincinnati club] 
was too much for Chicago to bear. She could not see her commercial 
rival on the Ohio bearing off the honors of the national game, es¬ 
pecially when there was money to be made while beating her. So 
Chicago went to work; — and you must note that in Chicago the 
first thing to do toward any achievement is to form a stock company. 
In Chicago nobody builds a church, pickles a winter’s stock of cucum¬ 
bers, without first forming a joint stock company under the general 
statute . . . .* The prospects are that the season will be financially a 
success. If so, Chicago can lay that satisfying unction to her soul 
and rest content, for the Dollar question is the chief question which 
any subject or situation presents to Chicago. If the cash balance is 
correct, the rest will do.” 

Professional The most important baseball development in 1871 
Association was the formation of the National Association of 
Formed Professional Base Ball Players. The old National 

Association, weakened by professionalism, had 
proved itself utterly helpless in dealing with the new situation. 

♦However, the Chicago club of 1870 was not actually incorporated. It appears to have 
been a subscription affair; each shareholder giving a certain amount to the working 
capital. 


21 



Irregularities of every sort had grown to the stage of anarchy. 
Gambling was on the increase, and ugly charges like those published 
by the Chicago papers in 1867 now had too much truth in them to 
be ignored. Throwing games at the behest of the gamblers was no 
longer a mere suspicion. It was a fact. 

Aside from the gambling and hoodlumism that were taking hold 
of baseball, other abuses demanded correction. Particularly trouble¬ 
some were the revolvers, players who jumped from team to team, 
the great sore spot of 1870. A lesser evil was the complete lack of 
control over game schedules and playing conditions, a circumstance 
that made the award of national championships a most difficult 
problem. 

Although its aims were good, the Professional Association 
accomplished little in the way of reform, and during five years of 
existence devoted itself principally to the question of settling the 
championship. It made a few minor changes in the rules, but did 
little or nothing to correct the abuses that were threatening to kill 
the national game. 

Chicago The White Stockings were first incorporated in 

Club January, 1871. Illinois statutes of that time con- 

Incorporated tained no provision for baseball corporations, but 
the charter was drawn up under the Act of Feb¬ 
ruary 24, 1859, entitled: An act for the incorporation of benevolent, 
educational, literary, musical, scientific, and missionary societies, 
including societies for mutual improvement, or for the promotion of 
the arts. 

As baseball seems to have little to do with any of the aims 
mentioned in the act, it soon became the subject of many jocular 
inquiries, such as “Was it meant for the mutual improvement of 
the gamblers?”, “Was it a benevolent society for the benefit of the 
stockholders and players?”, and “Perhaps it is a missionary league 
to carry the gospel of base ball to more benighted communities.” 

New Dexter Park, it was decided, was too far from the 

Grounds heart of the city. Not all the grandiose improve- 

Sought ments projected the year before had been made, 

and its capacity was never anything like the estimated 30,000, in its 

22 


early prospectus. Moreover, the canny backers felt that the expense 
of transportation was a factor in cutting down attendance. 

With the shortcomings of Dexter field in mind, permission to 
use the tract of land on the lake front, at the foot of Washington 
and Randolph streets was obtained from the city. Although it was 
called Lake Park, it seems to have been anything but parklike, for 
the ground was strewn with broken bottles and rubbish, and required 
extensive renovation. Early in March the Chicago city council voted 
to give the use of Lake Park to the Chicago club. Thus the team 
for the first time, had a playing field in the heart of the city. 

More In spite of the White Stockings’ impressive late 

Sour Notes season record, and their better-than-average season 
Sounded of 1870, some newspapers refused to be enthusi¬ 

astic over the club. Professionals had not yet won 
the complete support of the press. On March 29, 1871, the Illinois 
State Journal said: 

“The base ball mania has broken out earlier than usual this sea¬ 
son. The Chicago White Stockings, who last year were just beginning 
to redeem an almost ruined reputation when the season closed, have 
been playing the Lone Stars at New Orleans. They were victorious 
by a score of nine against six on the part of their opponents. This 
club has, doubtless, been re-organized on a thorough gambling basis, 
to be used like a race-horse or a bull terrier on the hands of experi¬ 
enced sportsmen, for the purpose of making money. The respectable 
public should give no countenance to the game of base ball when it 
is perverted to such bad ends. It is rare and healthy sport when 
indulged in only for the pleasure and exercise which it gives to the 
players. But when degraded to the level of the cock-pit and the 
scrub-race course, it is no longer worthy or deserving of patronage. 
Let there be proper discrimination made by the public between 
gambling base ball and sporting base ball.” 

Greatest What is described as perhaps the greatest ninth- 

Hitting inning rally in the history of baseball occurred 

Rally in a game with the Olympics of Washington on 

May 16, 1871. The score stood 7 to 0 against 
Chicago when they came to bat in the ninth. According to Tom 

23 


Foley, Captain Jimmy Wood shouted, “We need a run from every 
man on the team. See that we get them!” 

Batting more than once around before three outs were made, as 
was required in those days, the Chicagoans scored their nine runs. 
Fred Treacy drove two terrific home runs to far left field, and other 
players contributed timely hits. 

As the runs piled up, the fans went wild. In the excitement, 
Lotta Crabtree, the famous actress, hit a stranger over the head with 
a costly parasol, smashing the gentleman’s silk hat and ruining her 
sunshade. Old-timers swear that there was never anything like it 
in baseball before or since. 

Newspapers The season of 1871 was much like that of 1870. 

Can’t Stand After winning several unimportant early season 

Slumps games, the White Stockings slumped in June, much 

to the distress of the local scribes, who still clung 
to the notion that a good team ought to win everything in sight. When 
a team called the Actives from Clinton, Iowa, defeated the Chicagos 
on June 27, the writers waxed Biblical. Said the Evening Mail 
of June 28: 

“The Actives of Clinton, Iowa, defeated the White Stockings, 
yesterday afternoon, the score standing 8 to 5. Tell it not in Gath, 
publish it not in the streets of Askelon.” 

And the Illinois State Journal: 

“Our famous nine in whom we boasted after flaxing everything 
in the West, went East; were victorious for a while, returned with 
trailing banners, for rest and recuperation. We beat the Rockford 
Forest Citys on Saturday last; and on Tuesday — tell it not in Gath, 
publish it not in the streets of Askelon — were scooped 8 to 5 by a 
rustic club from the wilds of Iowa, called the Actives! And the 
country boys did the job in first rate style, too — by hard work and 
superior play.” 

Throwing The sports reporter of the Evening Mail, who 

of Games seems to have become particularly disgusted with 

Again Charged the efforts of the white-hosed team, vented his 
spleen again a few days later. On July 1 he said: 

24 


“According to previous arrangement, the Chicago base ball club 
was yesterday beaten again — the Olympics of Washington making 
13 to their 8. The horse-racing program was as follows: These two 
clubs were to play each other for ‘the best three in five games.’ 
The Olympics had beaten once and the Chicagos twice, and if the 
latter had made yesterday’s game they would have won the best 
three out of five, and the two clubs could have played together no 
more this season. So to secure the gate money of another game it 
was agreed that yesterday’s contest should result in a tie, and thus 
another game would be necessary. It is astonishing, that young men 
will still be found so confiding as to bet on the result of a game 
between professional ball-players when it is already decided by the 
managers, and is no more a test of skill than is a horse-race which 
is previously ‘sold’ by the jockeys.” 

Elsewhere the same paper said: 

“A morning sporting paper says the cause of the White Stockings’ 
last ignominious defeat was ‘weak batting’ just so — superinduced 
by heavy betting.” 

Old-Time This reporter of the Mail certainly looked at the 

Pitchers game with tongue-in-cheek, for he was scornful of 

Fragile? the growing art of baseball writing. In the issue 

of August 22 he states: 

“It is horrible to relate, but a morning paper report of a baseball 
game assures us that Atwater pitched well enough for five or six 
innings, but after that he ‘went to pieces.’ His awful fate should 
warn all other pitchers of what fragile clay they are made of.” 

Further on he says: 

“It takes a column in the papers to tell why the Chicago White 
Stockings were beaten by the Washington Olympics. It seems that 
they failed to make a sufficient number of runs.” 

Contend for Nevertheless, by October 1 the White Stockings 
Champion - were regarded as one of the country’s stronger 

ship teams, and had at least an outside chance to win 

the championship. On that date the Chicago 
Republican had this to say: 

“Today the Boston and Chicago clubs will play the fourth game 
©f their series on the Lake front Park grounds. The Chicagos have 

25 


won two games and the Bostons one, and the White Stockings are 
the favorites at very short odds. As regards the relative positions 
of the two clubs, the Chicagos have won twenty games and lost nine, 
the Bostons twenty and lost ten; the Chicagos have won four series 
from the Olympics, Mutuals, Eckfords, and Rockfords, and the 
Bostons four, from the Athletics, Olympics, Clevelands, and Rock- 
fords. Seats have been sold so rapidly that it is safe to estimate the 
crowd today at from 12,000 to 15,000. But few pools were sold 
last evening on the great game this afternoon. The Bostons carry 
off the odds in betting circles.” 

Although they were successful in disposing of the Bostonians, 
the White Stockings later lost to the Philadelphia Athletics in 
the deciding series of the year, and the championship went to 
Philadelphia. 

Great In the meantime, baseball in Chicago had been 

Chicago Fire brought to an abrupt end. The last home game was 

of 1871 played October 7, with a local amateur team. On 

the evening of October 8, a fire started in the 
O’Leary barn at the rear of 137 DeKoven street that was to make 
even more history than the fiery baseball war of 1871. 

Actually, the Chicago fire had no immediate effect on baseball 
in 1871. The season was nearly over, and the locals played out their 
eastern tour, finishing the year with a surplus in the treasury. Adrian 
C. Anson, in his autobiography, A Ball Player s Career , gives the 
impression that the members of the Chicago team were left stranded 
and destitute by the fire. As Captain Jimmy Wood was voted a 
bonus of $500 on November 20, and as the season was virtually 
over, it is hard to see how the fire could have affected the players, 
except through possible loss of their personal belongings. However, 
at the meeting of November 20 “the Chicago Base Ball club was 
declared to be extinct,” indicating that no plans were made for the 
following year. 

Seasons Anson is also authority for the statement that the 

of 1872 Chicago club dropped out of existence in 1872 

and 1873 and 1873. But, as Anson was playing in the East 
those years, he was not in close touch with Chicago baseball affairs. 

26 



He is correct to the extent that the Chicago club was not entered in 
the Professional Association race in either year, but it did exist as a 
semi-professional organization, with Tom Foley still at the helm, 
and several of the former players on the team. 

This semi-professional club found the going tough, Chicago 
people, busy rebuilding the city, had little time for baseball games. 
Professional teams, hippodroming around the country, skimmed the 
cream of exhibition-game attendance. The Chicago clubs of 1872 
and 1873 were no better drawing cards than such old, well- 
established amateur nines as the Actives and the Libertys. 


Seasons In 1874, a rejuvenated White Stocking team re- 

of 1874 entered the National Association. It was a fair 

and 1875 team, but the best of the Midwestern players had 

gone to Eastern clubs, and available men were not 
of championship caliber. Although the White Stockings managed 
to set back some of the powerful Easterners in a few games, the 
year’s record was mediocre, and aroused little interest among local 
fans. Boston won the National Association pennant for the third 
straight time. 

The season of 1875 was no better, Boston took its fourth pennant, 
and Chicago was an also-ran. But local fans were encouraged, be¬ 
fore the close of the season, by an announcement that Chicago was 
to have a brand-new ball club, made up of some of the greatest 
National Association stars. On July 20, the Chicago Tribune stated 
that White Stockings officials, in making plans for 1876, had obtained 
contracts with the following players: Pitcher, Spalding, of Boston; 
catcher, White, of Boston; first base, Devlin, of Chicago; second 
base, Barnes, of Boston; third base, Sutton, of Philadelphia; short¬ 
stop, Peters, of Chicago; left field, Glenn, of Chicago; center field, 
Hines, of Chicago; right field, McVey, of Boston; substitutes, 
O’Rourke of Boston, and Golden and Warren of Chicago. 

Although the team did not have all the players announced in the 
Tribune list, it was gratifying news for the loyal fans who wanted to 
see Chicago again a strong contender. Who and what were behind 

27 


this startling announcement? The forceful personality of that 
baseball enthusiast extraordinary, William A. Hulbert. 

“The Man Hailed by Chadwick and other writers as the man 

Who Saved who saved the national game, William A. Hulbert 

the Game 99 of Chicago is one of the greatest personalities in 

old-time baseball. Never a professional ball player 
himself but devoted to the game, he wanted Chicago to have a base¬ 
ball club equal to any in the country. 

Hulbert was disgusted with baseball conditions in the early 
1870’s. Player-snatching and contract-jumping had become the 
popular pastime of managers and players. It was considered too 
great a hazard to back a ball club financially, in view of the difficul¬ 
ties of holding a good team together once it was organized. Gamblers 
had muscled into the sport, and the fixing of games was an open 
scandal. 

Enlists When offered the presidency of the Chicago club 

Aid of in 1875, Hulbert decided to see what could be 

Spalding done to put the game back on the right track. 

While considering the offer, he met A. G. Spalding, 
then playing on the Boston team. Although Spalding’s team had won 
the pennant three successive years and could not complain about 
game-throwing, Spalding felt, like Hulbert, that the time was ripe 
for more stringent governing rules. 

With Spalding’s assistance, Hulbert signed up Barnes, McVey, 
and White of the Boston club, and Anson and Sutton of the Phila¬ 
delphia Athletics. These, along with Spalding, formed the nucleus 
of a powerful team, to which it was planned to add outstanding 
members of the Chicago club of 1875 — Hines, Glenn, and Peters. 


National Feeling that something more than a good team was 

League necessary to protect his interests, Hulbert arranged 

is Formed a secret meeting at Louisville with managers from 
St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Louisville, at which he 
first disclosed his plan to organize a National League of Professional 

28 


Baseball clubs, under rules which would protect both the players 
and the club management. 

At a later meeting (February 2, 1876), attended by managers 
of leading Eastern clubs, Hulbert dramatically locked the door when 
the session began. As Spalding relates the incident, in his history of 
baseball, Hulbert then announced: 

“Gentlemen you have no cause for uneasiness. I have locked the 
door simply to prevent intrusion from without, and incidentally to 
make it impossible for any of you to go out until I have finished what 
I have to say to you.” 

What he had to say seems to have been plenty. He told the 
assembled officials that the abuses of the game had to be corrected 
if professional baseball was to survive. He scored the National 
Association for its failure to remedy the situation, and wound up by 
producing the constitution for the new league. 

“Hulbert completely dominated the situation,” says Spalding, 
“Although some of these men were personally guilty of the corrup¬ 
tions of which he spoke, at the end of the interview they were docility 
itself. They recognized Hulbert as a power.” 

Hulbert Hulbert’s dominating influence was felt for years. 

Made the Although he nominated Morgan G. Bulkeley of 

League Hartford, afterwards governor of Connecticut, as 

first president of the league, he himself succeeded 
Bulkeley before the year was up, and continued as president until 
his death on April 10, 1882. 

During these critical formative years, Hulbert’s strong hand 
served to keep baseball on the road he had outlined for it, and made 
itself felt when evil conditions had to be dealt with. In 1877, four 
members of the Louisville club were expelled from organized base¬ 
ball for throwing games, and for forty-four years thereafter no 
similar action was necessary in big-league baseball. 

Hulbert was described by those who knew him as a large man, 
with a forceful, magnetic personality. He was the good-fellow type 
in his off hours, but stern and dominating when necessary. A hard 

29 


fighter with a level business head, he easily became the great baseball 
leader of his time. 

First Fittingly, the first National League pennant was 

National won by the city that cradled the league, Chicago. 

League Pennant Hulbert’s endeavors were crowned with victory. 

The team which carried off the prize entered the 
new league with the following players: A. G. Spalding, pitcher, 
captain, and manager; James L. White, catcher; A. C. Anson, third 
base; Ross Barnes, second base; Cal A. McVey, first base; J. P. 
Peters, shortstop; J. W. Glenn, left field; Paul A. Hines, center field; 
Robert Addy, right field; J. F. Cone, Olcar Bielaski, and F. H. 
Andrus, substitutes. 

The new spirit of baseball created in Chicago by this team is 
shown by a story in the Chicago Evening Journal of September 26, 
1876, when the White Stockings had clinched the pennant. The 
Journal , in previous years lukewarm toward Chicago baseball, had 
the following to say: 

66 Anson “For a number of years the management of the 

Toed Chicago Base Ball Association have been working 

the Plate 99 hard to secure the whip pennant, and to that effect 

they have from year to year engaged players 
whom they thought would be able to wrest the championship from 
the Bostons. Before the closing of the base ball season of 1875 
it was formally announced that the four players, Barnes, Spaulding, 
McVey, and White were engaged, with Anson of the Athletics, to play 
in Chicago for 1876. How well they have done, the admirers of base 
ball are aware. They have won the coveted flag and Chicago is 
happy. 

“Every man on the club has shown himself to be a gentleman as 
well as a ball player, and there has never been a breath of suspicion 
against them . . . They have made friends in and out of the profes¬ 
sion, and are a credit to the city of their adoption . , . Yesterday’s 
game with Hartford might or might not have settled the championship 
for Chicago . . . The game was a very interesting one from first to 
last, the Chicagos taking the lead in the first three innings. Then 
matters turned, and the blue-hosed gentlemen went to the front. 

30 


When Anson toed the plate in the sixth and struck a long fly to center 
field for three bases, the excitement was intense. The boys all got 
in their work and made six runs, earning four of them and winning 
the game. There was no more runs until the ninth inning, when the 
Hartfords, by good batting and errors of White, scored four runs. 
The features of the game were the fine pitching of McVey, the batting 
of Anson and Hines, and the work done by little Pete at short field.” 
Final score, Chicago, 7; Hartford, 6. 

Gratifying as it was to win the pennant, Chicago gained some¬ 
thing more from the White Stockings of 1876. The new club brought 
to this city Spalding and Anson, whose personalities and leader¬ 
ship were to dominate nearly a quarter-century of Chicago baseball, 
and to leave an indelible stamp on the history of the game. 

Spalding 9 s With the formation of the National League and 

Great the new Chicago White Stockings, there entered 

Career into Chicago baseball a figure who was to be its 

leader for nearly a quarter of a century, Albert 

G. Spalding. 

Spalding was well known to Chicago fans before coming here 
as captain and manager of the re-organized White Stockings. As the 
star pitcher of the old Rockford club, his “statuesque” delivery had 
won him both cheers and jeers of the local devotees. Again, as pitcher 
for the old Boston club, he was often on the slab against Chicago. 
But the most important part of his career belongs to Chicago alone. 

Player, manager, club owner, and sporting goods tycoon, 
Spalding had a personal history unmatched in baseball. He not only 
served in every department of the game, but also did much to make 
professional baseball a success. 

Spalding — Like so many other great figures of baseball 
a Product of in old Chicago, Spalding was a product of the 
the Prairies prairies. He was born September 2, 1850, in the 
little village of Byron, in northern Illinois. He 
was only fifteen years old when he joined the Forest City club of 
Rockford, and was not yet seventeen when he participated in the 
only beating handed to the Washington Nationals in their western 

31 


tour of 1867. He is thus entitled to a place as one of the boy wonders 
of the mound, although his chief fame does not come from his 
pitching record. 

As a pitcher with a good straight arm fast ball, Spalding was well 
above the average of his day. In 1908, Henry Chadwick ranked him 
as the greatest pitcher up to that time. This rating is certainly debat¬ 
able, however, for William Arthur Cummings, Amos Rusie, Cy 
Young, and the peerless Mathewson all belonged to the same period. 
To say that Spalding outranked any or all of these is going a bit 
too far. 

Spalding’s Along with William A. Hulbert, Spalding was not 
Influence only a prime mover in the organization of the 

on the Game National League, but also strove to put professional 
baseball on a sound business basis. These two men 
realized that the game could not survive if it remained in the 
hands of gamblers. Their work prospered and endured, and has 
made possible a clean, wholesome sport with no direct gambling 
connections. 

As a manufacturer and purveyor of baseball equipment, Spalding 
and his business associates helped to standardize the game, by making 
it possible for all baseball teams to use the same kind of playing 
equipment. 

Business When he came to Chicago in 1876, A. G. Spalding, 

Career with his brother, James Walter Spalding, engaged 

Notable in the sporting goods business, in addition to his 

baseball activity. In 1878, he gave up his manage¬ 
rial and playing duties with the White Stockings to give more time 
to the firm. He retained an interest in the club, however, and in 1882 
became its president, succeeding Hulbert. He continued as president 
until 1891, and thereafter was the principal stockholder for some 
time. 

Under Spalding’s direction, with the assistance of his brother and 
a brother-in-law, William T. Brown, the firm of A. G. Spalding & 
Bros, became one of the greatest concerns in the world making and 

32 



to* ySMiowv. 




AETNA NINE OF 1869 


**»«- « jc-i. 3. fc 


CHAMPION amateur tea^ op the: NORTHWES' 


AEtna Nine of 1869. Strong team of 
the early days. 


Jimmy Wood, First captain of the Chi¬ 
cago White Stockings. 


Tom Foley, Manager of Chi¬ 
cago’s first professional team. 


William A. Hulbert, 
Founder of National 
League. 


A. G. Spald¬ 
ing, Manager 
and Captain of 

Chicago’s first National League team, pen¬ 
nant winners of 1876. 

























Anson’s Pennant Win¬ 
ners of 1885 and 1886. 
Billy Sunday is at ex¬ 
treme right of first row. 


Chicago White Stockings 
of 1880, 1881, and 1882. First 
National League club to win 
pennant three times in a row. 


Adrian C. Anson, 
Chicago's Baseball 
Immortal. 


White Stockings of 1882. Left to right, top row: E. N. Williamson, 
3b.; M. J. Kelly, rf.; Frank S. Flint, c.; Thomas Burns, ss.; A. C. An¬ 
son, Capt. and lb.; A. Dalrymple, If.; George F. Gore, cf.; bottom 
row: Hugh Nicol, rf.; L. Corcoran, p. (See page 40). 






















selling sporting goods, with branches all over the United States and 
in foreign countries. Spalding died at Point Loma, California, 
September 9, 1915. 


Anson, Adrian Constantine Anson, familiarly known as 

Chicago’s “Pop” to players and fans alike, was the baseball 

Baseball hero of Chicago from 1876, when he joined the 

immortal champion White Stockings, until 1897. No other 

man, with the exceptions of John McGraw and 
Connie Mack had so long and notable a career as player and 
manager. His managerial record is not quite so impressive as 
McGraw’s or Mack’s, but he was certainly the greatest of his day, 
and topped baseball’s hall of fame in the first poll of old-timers. 


There is no question that Anson was one of the greatest playing 
stars of all time, and can rightly be called the most brilliant first- 
baseman of the old era. He was not only a fine mechanical player, 
but a heady one, and devised many tricks of infield play that are 
still in use. 


Perhaps what hurt his record as a manager in the last eleven years 
with the White Stockings was his persistence in playing long after 
most men would have retired to the bench. He played up to the very 
end, and only at the last did he ease up by alternating with another 
player at first base. It is true that he did not have good material in 
all of those later years, but he might have done more in the develop¬ 
ment of his colts, as he called them, if he had stood on the side-lines 
to study their weaknesses. However, it was Anson’s theory that a 
manager should be on the field, taking an active part in directing 
the play. 


Anson Dons In the early 1890’s when Anson repeatedly drew 
False the fire of Chicago sports writers for continuing to 

Whiskers play, the constant reiteration of the term “old man” 

got under his skin, and he decided to get back at 
his critics through ridicule. 

One day while the team was dressing, Anson opened a bundle 
containing a white wig and a false set of long white whiskers. 

33 


Fred Pfeffer, himself a veteran of long standing, gasped, “For 
God’s sake, what’s that for?” 

“Never mind,” said Anson. “Wait and see.” 

The old hero, who was really not old, fitted the wig and beard 
to his head, and thus arrayed, took the field. The crowd was struck 
dumb. With the long white locks and whiskers floating about his 
shoulders, Anson played the entire game with his usual effortless 
skill, and thus turned the guns of ridicule upon his detractors. 

Anson Pop Anson led National League batters four times: 

Renowned in 1879, with an average of .407; in 1881, with 

for Hitting .399; in 1887, with .421; in 1888, with .343. He 

was second or third several other years, and only 
twice in his twenty-two seasons in the National League did he finish 
with a percentage below .300. Dan Brouthers, who led the National 
League four times and the old American Association once, was the 
only hitter before 1900 to challenge his record. 

Strictly speaking, Anson was not a slugger. He did not try to 
kill the ball or knock it out of the lot every time he swung. Instead 
he was the Willie Keeler type, although years were to elapse after 
Anson’s heyday before Keeler came along with his famous principle 
of “hitting ’em where they ain’t.” 

Another Anson was born in 1852, in Marshalltown, a com- 

Prairie munity in central Iowa founded by his father. His 

Product first baseball experience was with the Marshalltown 

team, a nine which his father helped to organize 
and on which the elder Anson played, advanced years then being 
considered no great handicap to a ball player. Young Anson was 
not a regular member of the team until 1870, when he starred in a 
game played with the Rockford Forest Citys at Marshalltown. 

In this game Anson’s father and his brother, Sturgis Anson also 
played. Although they gave the Forest Citys a good a run for their 
money, they lost by a score of 18 to 3, which was considered quite 
an accomplishment against one of the strongest teams in the country. 
Anson’s playing was so impressive that it won him a place on the 

34 


Rockford team for the following year. According to his own state¬ 
ment, the salary was $66 a month. A second game was arranged for 
the following day, as the Forest Citys were chagrined by this showing 
against a team of green amateurs. Also they wanted to recoup, as 
there had been some heavy betting that they would defeat Marshall¬ 
town by a much wider margin. The second game ended more satis¬ 
factorily for the Forest Citys, as they took the long end of a 35 
to 5 score. 

Dead Ball Most fans of today who discuss the respective 

Versus merits of American League and National League 

Live Ball baseballs imagine that the live ball-dead ball con¬ 
troversy is something new. It may surprise them to 
know that in 1870 the fans were already arguing just as learnedly 
on the same subject, whether hitting ought to be helped by using a 
lively ball, or the pitchers and fielders aided by a deader one. 

In fact, in one Marshalltown-Forest City game Anson’s father, 
who was disgusted by the outcome of the second game, alleged that 
the latter team pulled a fast one in the matter of the ball. They 
agreed to furnish it (only one was provided in those days), and the 
elder Anson accused them of taking a lively “Bounding Rock” ball, 
skinning it, and then sewing it up again in the cover of a “Ryan” 
dead ball. 

Anson 9 s Anson served but one year in Rockford (1871) 

Playing for the Rockford club backers decided that they 

Career could no longer stand the strain of increasing 

salaries. Accordingly, the team was disbanded, 
and Anson as a free agent was signed by the Philadelphia Athletics. 

He played four years at Philadelphia, with constantly growing 
fame as a top-notch fielder and dangerous hitter, but his development 
as a star was retarded by his being shifted from one position to 
another. From 1871 through 1878, he served variously at third base, 
shortstop, right field, and left field. It was not until 1879, when he 
became manager of the Chicago club, that he began to play the 
position at which he grew most famous, first base. 

35 


Record Cap Anson, or Pop Anson, as he was latterly 

as a called, led the Chicago team to five National 

Manager League pennants. This gives him a tie with Frank 

G. Selee, of Boston and later of Chicago, for the 
greatest number of pennants won by a manager before 1900. The 
White Stockings, under his direction, took three straight champion¬ 
ships in 1880, 1881, and 1882; then two more in 1885 and 1886. 

In the years following, down to the end of his career in 1897, 
Anson’s team did not particularly distinguish itself. It was second 
in 1887 and 1888; third in 1889; second in 1890; second in 1891; 
but from then on the best they could do was fourth place in 1895. 
However, in the twelve years from 1880 through 1891, the Chicago 
club never finished lower than fourth, was on the top five times, and 
second five times, a record that indelibly places Anson among the 
great managers in baseball. 

End of It would be pleasant to record that Anson stepped 

Anson 9 s aside at the height of his fame, with the plaudits 

Career of the fans still ringing in his ears. Unfortunately 

that was not the way it was. The disastrous seasons 
of 1892 through 1897 were evidence, in the opinion of many, 
that he had seen his best days as a manager, although his batting 
average was still above .300 and his fielding nearly as good as ever. 
But Anson refused to quit. 

The darkest shadow of his last years was his difficulty with 
Spalding. It was really too bad that these two men, who had served 
Chicago baseball so many years, could not have ended their associ¬ 
ation in a pleasanter fashion. 

Anson charges that Spalding sought to undermine his influence 
with the players, and that the enmity of James A. Hart, who succeeded 
Spalding as president of the club, had much to do with his ousting 
at the close of the 1897 season. It may be that Spalding, believing 
Anson’s usefulness at an end, sought to ease the pain of his retirement 
by trying to induce him to resign. If so, Anson refused. He was a 
stockholder in the club, and could not bear to give up all active associ¬ 
ation with the team. In a move to get control, he received from 
Spalding a curious document which purported to be an option to 

36 


buy the club for $150,000. Anson felt that this option was not made 
in good faith, but even if it had been, he could not have raised the 
money to take it up. The end came with his abrupt dismissal from 
the managership early in 1898. 


Anson 9 s Pop Anson’s fame will always be the touchstone 

Later by which the success of Chicago baseball managers 

Career is judged. During his twenty-two years’ service, 

baseball in Chicago was Pop Anson, and Pop Anson 
was Chicago baseball. No Chicago manager since his time has 
finished the season at the top or nearly there so many times. He 
was temperate in his habits in a day when drinking, hard-living ball 
players were the rule rather than the exception. Honest beyond all 
reproach, he was scrupulously fair, and no ball player was ever 
known to complain of the way he was handled by Anson. His con¬ 
tribution to the national game at a time when it was trying to shed 
the disgrace of its early years is a monument to decent and honest 
sportsmanship. 


After leaving baseball, Anson operated a billiard hall in Chicago. 
Although he took a lively interest in baseball, he was never again 
actively connected with it. He died April 14, 1922, and the following 
year the National League erected a monument to him in Oakwood 
cemetery, Chicago. 


Three With virtually the same club that won the pennant 

Lean in 1876, the White Stockings failed to repeat in 

Years 1877. The championship went to Boston. Louis¬ 

ville looked like a sure winner until the close of the 
season, when the Kentuckians lost enough games to the Beaneaters 
to make the latter the winners. As a result of charges that these games 
were thrown, four Louisville players were expelled from organized 
baseball. 

The 1878 season saw many changes in the Chicago club, with 
Anson the only star left from the 1876 team. Spalding had resigned 
to devote his time to business, and Robert Ferguson, the new man¬ 
ager, could not drive his second-rate players higher than fourth 
place in a six-club race. In 1879, Anson became manager, and the 

37 


team, although strengthened by stars obtained from the defunct 
Indianapolis and Milwaukee clubs, again missed the flag. 

Perhaps the White Stockings of these years had not learned to 
choose their drinks well. An advertisement in the Evening Journal 
of April 30, 1877, says “The Chicago Base Ball Club delight in 
drinking mead at Gunther’s.” The dictionary defines mead as a 
fermented drink made of honey, but it should be explained that the 
beverage referred to was moxie mead, a soft drink of the time. 

Pennant The sun shone again for Chicago fans in 1880, 

Flies Again when a strong team, ably piloted by Anson, took 
in Chicago the National League flag for the second time. 

Larry Corcoran and Fred Goldsmith, pitchers, and 
Mike Kelly and Frank Flint, catchers, eliminated the battery weak¬ 
nesses of the lean years; while Ed Williamson, Tommy Burns, Abner 
Dalrymple, and George Gore added their strength at the bat and in 
the field to make up a winning combination. 

Practically unchanged in its line-up, the same crew repeated in 
1881 and 1882, thus becoming the first National League club to win 
the pennant three times in a row. 

Anson credits the winning of three straight championships to the 
superb teamwork of the White Stockings in those years. Perhaps as 
much praise is due Anson’s field generalship, then at the height of 
its power. 

Fourteen In the longest game played on the Chicago grounds 

Innings up to that time, the White Stockings scored a memo- 

to Victory rable triumph over the Troy club on July 4, 1882. 

The contest went fourteen innings, with Chicago 
on the long end of a 9 to 5 score. 

The locals made one run in the first inning and one in the second. 
Troy tied the score in their half of the second (they were batting last, 
as was generally the custom for visiting teams then). The White 
Stockings scored again in the sixth, and Troy tied it up in the eighth. 
Both teams went scoreless until the eleventh. In that inning 
Dalrymple of Chicago started off with a single. He was followed 

38 


by Gore, who drove a three-base hit into the crowd behind center 
field, scoring Dalrymple. Troy’s center fielder, Conner, retrieved 
the ball, but held it too long, allowing Gore to come home on the 
error. 

At this point, many Chicago fans, satisfied that these two runs 
would win, started to leave the park, but the police, refusing to under¬ 
rate the Troy club, managed to keep most of them in their places. 

The judgment of the police was vindicated. In the second half 
of the inning, Keefe and Harbige of the Troys both hit two-baggers, 
Keefe scoring. Harbige came home from second on a long fly tying 
the score. 

For two more innings Troy staved off the White Stockings’ attack. 
The big fourteenth inning was thus described by a reporter for the 
Chicago Times: 

“Williamson took his base on balls and stole second; Burns made 
a triple bagger, Williamson coming in. Corcoran went out at first; 
Flint made a two-baser and Burns came in. Flint following on a 
passed ball; Nicol was hit by a wild pitch; Dalrymple took first on a 
dropped fly by Roseman, Nicol coming home on the error; Gore and 
Kelly went out at first. The lead was too much for the visitors, and 
they failed to do anything, though Connor got a hit and stole second, 
being left on, the three following out in rotation.” 


Score by innings: 

12 3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

Chicago 110 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2 

0 

0 

4 — 9 

Troy 0 2 0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

2 

0 

0 

0 — 5 


One-Armed 

Flinger 

Drubs 

Chicago 


While in the fans’ opinion some pitchers, past and 
present, could do about as well without any arms, 
the performance of a one-armed man on the mound 
would scarcely be expected to be of stellar rank. 


Yet on at least one occasion a pitcher with only 
one arm humbled the proud White Stockings. He was “One-Arm” 
Dailey, who hurled for the Buffalo club in the early 1880’s, and, in 
spite of his disability, he pitched and fielded as well as most slabmen 
of his time. 


39 





Charles Ebert, known as Dot Ebert in his own days as semi- 
professional and professional ball player, and now an employee of 
the Cook County Court in Chicago, witnessed Dailey’s triumph from 
a tree growing just outside the ball park. A small boy at the time, 
Ebert managed to elude the police, who were trying to discourage 
Chicago youths from seeing games without paying, and clung Tarzan- 
like to his perch throughout the contest. 

Ebert attests to Dailey’s fine form on that July day of 1882. He 
allowed only five hits and four runs. Even more remarkable, he 
hit a two bagger in the ninth, and scored the winning run. The final 
score was Buffalo, 5; Chicago, 4. 

Rookies A story is told about one of Anson’s colts, a young 

Were Ribbed pitcher named Sullivan, who had broken into the 
in Old Days league with the Washington team. In his first trip 
with the Senators, Sullivan was the victim of a 
ribbing by Hank O’Day, the veteran umpire who was then a player. 

Sullivan had been assigned a lower berth. Being unused to 
Pullman travel, he was puzzled by the little hammock near the 
window and asked what it was for. With a perfectly serious face, 
O’Day replied: “That is a pitcher’s berth; the man who is going to 
pitch the following day always gets that berth. The Pullman company 
provides that hammock for the pitcher to rest his arm in.” Then, 
after showing Sullivan how to use it, he left the rookie with his arm 
swung high above his head. 

The next morning Sullivan’s arm and shoulder were so stiff 
and lame that he was unable to pitch, and since then the gag has 
often been repeated with other rookie pitchers as the victims. 

In 1882 the National League attempted to add color to the / 
/ game by prescribing that each player was to be outfitted with \> 
1 1 a shirt and cap of a certain color to indicate the position he S 
\ played. The colors were: catcher, scarlet; pitcher, light blue; 

/ first base, scarlet and white; second base, orange and black; 

S third base, gray and white; shortstop, maroon; right field, gray; 

S center field, red and black; left field, white; substitutes, green <[ 
■ | or brown. The idea met with no favor, and was discarded 
) after a year’s trial. 


40 



Fans Go Wild No longer indifferent to the fortunes of Chicago 
over Team ball players, the newspapers in 1880 joined the 
fresh upsurge of local pride. Here is what the 
Chicago Times of the day had to say of that year’s final game: 

“AFTER THE BALL 

“The Bunged-Up White Stockings End 
the Year with a Victory Over 
the Buffalos 

“And Win the Pennant by the Largest 
Majority Known Unto the 
National League 


“The Chicago team on yesterday afternoon played its eighty- 
fourth and last game of the season. . . .The Buffalo team opposed it, 
and, notwithstanding the fearfully crippled condition in which the 
home nine is, it won. The season now stands: Victories, sixty-seven; 
defeats, seventeen. . . .The championship has never been won by as 
large a number of victories since the organization of the league in 
1876. In that year Chicago won with fifty-two victories and fourteen 
defeats. 

“Owing to the crippled condition of both Corcoran and Gold¬ 
smith, the Chicagos on yesterday secured the services of Charles Guth, 
pitcher of the Lake Views, and an amateur of more than ordinary 
skill. He has variations in pace, out and in curves, etc., perfectly 
at command, and the evidence of it is that, in the first seven innings, 
the Buffalos made but two hits off him, and seven of them struck out.” 

Chicago won, 10 to 8. At the end of the story is an announcement 
that in the next game, an exhibition contest, the team would experi¬ 
ment with an invention of Harry Wright, a square bat. 

Two More It is hard to get on top, and harder still to stay. 
Years of Although Anson’s team was but little changed it 

Failure finished second in 1883 and fourth in 1884. 

The players’ list retained the best of the outfit 
that was three times winner, with some notable additions. John 


41 


Clarkson, a brilliant pitcher, joined the club in 1884, and the pre¬ 
vious year the White Stockings had acquired a young outfielder who 
was to win fame on the diamond, and much more fame off it. His 
name was William A. Sunday. Discovered by Anson in Marshalltown, 
Iowa, Billy Sunday developed into a daring baserunner and a capable 
outfielder, but he was always a weak batter. 

;j TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE || 

<1 By Franklin P. Adams ]> 

These are the saddest of possible words— 

/ Tinker to Evers to Chance; { \ 

1 1 Trio of beartraps and fleeter than birds, / 

Tinker to Evers to Chance. ]► 

Thoughtlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble— ( > 

Making a Giant hit into a double— <j 

\ Words that are weighty with nothing but trouble— 

Tinker to Evers to Chance. J> 

J[ New York World, 1908 

Franklin P. Adams, of “The Conning Tower” fame, was 
1 1 one of the most famous of New York columnists in the days <' 
\ when Frank Chance, the “Peerless Leader” of the Chicago J» 
Cubs, was holding down first base and inspiring his team to j 
1 1 pennant after pennant, both in National League and world ( 

<’ championships. v 

!> Joe Tinker, at shortstop, and Johnny Evers, at second base, 
formed the other members of this infield wrecking crew, which <| 
S so often broke up rallies of opposing teams with their lightning J 1 

fast double plays. J> 

i| Although Joe Tinker, shortstop and Johnny Evers, second \ 
baseman, belong to the period since 1900, Frank Chance joined ( ! 
> the Chicago club as a catcher in 1898, and thereby qualifies <| 
as one of the old-timers. This verse helped to make “Tinker / 
1 1 to Evers to Chance” synonymous with fast and accurate team !' 
work, and it is here reprinted as a tribute to the Chicago baseball 
leader who carried on the tradition of Pop Anson’s best days. \ 


42 




Champions With due regard for such mighty teams as the 

of 1885 Cubs under Frank Chance, the Giants under 

and 1886 McGraw, and, of late years, the slugging Yankees, 
the White Stockings of 1885 and 1886 were one 
of the best collections of ball players that ever won a championship. 

Their “stone-wall infield” was the terror of opposing batters. 
Tom Burns, at third base; Ed Williamson, at short; Fred Pfeifer, 
at second; and A. C. Anson, himself, at first base, made up this 
redoubtable quartet. They gobbled up grounders and speared line 
drives with almost superhuman accuracy. 

In the outfield they had Abner Dalrymple, a real slugger; George 
Gore, another heavy hitter; and Billy Sunday, whose speed on the 
bases made up for his light hitting. They were all first-rate fielders 
and cool-headed ball players, particularly when the chips were down. 

Clarkson Written large among the names of famous battery 

and mates are those of Clarkson and Kelly of the cham- 

Kelly pion White Stockings. John Clarkson was a clever 

pitcher, with a puzzling drop and a fast overhand 
delivery. Mike Kelly, on the receiving end of Clarkson’s pitches, 
was the most famous player of his day. A fine catcher, unusually 
good at throwing men out on the bases, he also starred as an out¬ 
fielder. Kelly’s other battery mate was James McCormick, who was 
also a great pitcher. 

Clarkson and Kelly were also distinguished by the high money 
value set on them. Kelly, after leaving the Chicago club, was referred 
to as the “$10,000 beauty,” because he was sold to Boston for that 
amount in 1887, the highest price received for a ball player up to that 
time. Clarkson followed him to Boston the next year, with the same 
$10,000 price tag attached. From this it will be seen that the 1880 
market for baseball “ivory” was not high. It is a long stretch from 
Clarkson at $10,000 to Dizzy Dean at $185,000. 

Kelly — Mike Kelly — King Kelly, as he was called — 

the $10,000 is said to have inspired “Casey at the Bat”; 
Beauty certainly his personality and exploits rivaled those 

of the legendary Casey. 


43 


Enough stories are told of him to fill a book. Quick-witted, big- 
hearted, happy-go-lucky, his Irish temperament made him a favorite, 
even when his humor took a boastful turn. After his sale to Boston, 
he would yell to the crowd, “Oh, I’m a beaut—you can bank on 
that. A regular ten-thousand dollar beauty. I come high, but they 
have to have me.” 

Kelly’s tricks were often resourceful, if not honest. Once, while 
playing in the outfield for the White Stockings, in an extra-inning 
game at Boston, darkness threatened to halt the contest. In the 
twelfth inning Chicago went ahead by one run, but in their half the 
Easterners managed to fill the bases with two out. 

It was growing very dark. In this crucial spot, the Boston batter 
hit a long, hard drive out in Kelly’s direction. Mike could not see 
the ball at all, but realized that the umpire was probably in the 
same fix. He ran back, posed alertly, waited a moment, leaped into 
the air with a wild whoop, and pantomimed a catch. He then ran 
for the clubhouse as if the game were over, and the umpire, com¬ 
pletely fooled, yelled, “Out.” 

How a Run On another occasion, Kelly and Ed Williamson 

Was Made conspired to manufacture a run out of nothing. 

to Order In a game with the Detroit club, the score stood 

2 to 2 in the ninth inning. When Chicago came to 
bat, Kelly got on first base, and Williamson drew a pass, sending 
Kelly to second. The pair then pulled off a neat double-steal, but 
as Kelly slid into third he howled with pain and asked for time. 

Williamson came over from second to see what was the matter. 
“Ed,” wailed Kelly, “it’s me arm. Faith, I think it’s out of joint. 
Pull it for me, will you?” 

As Williamson leaned over to pull his arm, Kelly whispered 
hurriedly, “Say, Ed, as soon as Weidman [the pitcher] raises his 
arm, I’m going to make a break for home, and you sneak along 
behind me. They’ll play for me, sure, and forget about you; but 
when I’m close I’ll straddle me legs, and you slide under.” 

When Kelly dashed for the home plate, the Detroit pitcher was 
so astonished he almost forgot to throw the ball. Williamson, who 


44 


as he afterwards confessed, had cut third base by fifteen feet, came 
tearing in behind. The Detroit catcher had the ball, and was waiting 
for Kelly. Mike stood still, with legs spread, and Williamson slid 
under, touching the plate without being tagged by the surprised 
catcher. 


Sports Baseball writing suffered a relapse in the 1880’s. 

Writing The exuberance of previous years gave way to a 

at Low Ebb sober style. Reports of games usually consisted 
of a stereotyped summary in a few hundred words, 
followed by a box score similar to those used today. 

On rare occasions some anonymous reporter cut loose with a bit 
of vivid writing, such as was to enliven the sports pages in the twenti¬ 
eth century. On July 7, 1885, the Chicago Tribune had this to say 
of a game with New York: 

“O’Rourke was the first man at bat, and went out from third to 
first. Connor followed him with two men out. He made a base hit, 
stole second, and got to third on a passed ball by Flint. Gillespie 
had meanwhile come to bat, and after three balls had been called, 
sent the ball over Burns’ head to left field. Gore had run up from 
center, but this wild reach for the ball was ineffectual, and Dalrymple 
having failed to back up Gore in his effort, the ball went bounding 
off toward the carriages. Dal finally secured it, however, and threw 
to Pfeffer at second. The latter made a wild pass at the ball as it flew 
by his ear, and before Anson could capture it, both Ward and 
Gillespie had crossed the home plate amidst the plaudits of the 
spectators. Esterbrook followed with a base hit, and Dorgan’s safe 
hit advanced the ‘dude’ to second. The latter then stole third, and 
Deasley hit a grounder to Pfeffer which got up that player’s sleeve 
and before he could get it down Deasley had reached first, and 
Esterbrook and Dorgan had crossed the home plate. The Chicagos 
closed the inning by flying out in one, two, three order, and neither 
scoring in the last inning, the game was given to the visitors. The 
fielding was by far the most brilliant seen upon the home ground, 
Burns’ and Ward’s running catches of hits by Esterbrook and 
Clarkson respectively being such as to win them a hearty round of 
applause. Dorgan, in right field, also made a great catch of Pfeffer’s 
fly, as did Dalrymple of Connor’s sky-scraper to left. . . .” 

45 


That is picturesque enough, but a practiced eye can detect at least 
three factual mistakes. Evidently the age of specialism in sports 
writing had not yet arrived. Of particular interest, however, is the 
writer’s use of the term “sky-scraper” to denote a high fly. This 
was some years before the first skyscraper building was erected and 
the term came to have its present meaning. 

Advise Occasionally a column of sport comment dealt 

Players to be with etiquette. “Players should lift their caps 

Gentlemen when they receive hearty applause. It is a grace¬ 

ful acknowledgment of the compliment,” was one 
such instance. In another, the commentator admonished players not 
to “act like schoolboys,” when the umpire rendered a decision 
against them, but to receive the arbiter’s rulings in soldierly 
obedience. 

Despite their preoccupation with ethics, the sports writers had 
already learned the trick of passing sharp remarks on the value of 
players. Shortly after Chicago acquired Pitcher McCormick, the 
Tribune printed comments from other newspapers, adding its own: 

“The Providence Star says that Chicago paid Providence $2600 
for McCormick’s release. The Star types are very careless about 
making outs in figures. We violate no confidence when we say $26 
was the price paid for the goods. — Cleveland Plain Dealer . Not so 
fast, our young friend, $800 is the sum the Chicagos gave for 
McCormick, and he is worth it. — Enquirer . Venerable but ever 
verdant chump, we must differ from you. McCormick isn’t worth 
$2.60 if his failings go with his beauties.” 

Spalding During the 1880’s, when the White Stockings were 

Scouts shellacking their opponents with great regularity, 

Players A. G. Spalding was worried by the fact that most 

Off Diamond members of his club were addicted to the extra¬ 
curricular sport of bending the elbow. 

He lectured the players on their bibulous habits, but to no avail. 
As he tells the story in his book on baseball,* the players laughed it 
off with such remarks as, “Do you expect us to win everything,” and 
“Show us the team we can’t beat.” 

* America's National Game, American Sports Publishing Co., New York, 1911. 

46 



Finally Spalding hired a Pinkerton detective to trail the men 
and see exactly what they were doing. The sleuth took the players 
one by one and followed them everywhere, up and down Clark 
street, out of one saloon and into another, into barrelhouses and 
joints of every description. At last Spalding had a detailed report 
of every player’s movement. 

Kelly Calling the men into his office, he read the reports 

Cries to them. As was expected, Anson and Billy Sunday 

“Foul!” were given a clean bill, but nearly all the rest had 

black records. 

Mike Kelly, as usual, had a word to put in. The “King” raised 
his voice in the dead silence which followed the reading: 

“I want to amend the record. It says there that I was seen drinking 
a lemonade at 3 A. M. It was a straight whiskey. I never drink a 
lemonade at that hour of the morning.” 

Asked to fix their own punishment, the players decided to pay 
the detective’s bill. 

McCormick Spalding goes on to tell the following aftermath: 
and Kelly “The White Stockings were about to leave for a 

Boot One series of games at Detroit. The train was ready 

to start. Standing on the platform was a great, 
green gawk of a fellow, staring with wide-mouthed interest at the 
departing players. Kelly caught sight of him and whispered some¬ 
thing to McCormick. The ‘King’ stepped up to the countryman and, 
after denouncing him in the most violent terms as a Pinkerton 
detective, hauled off and smote him with all his might, while 
McCormick, coming up behind the bewildered ‘Rube,’ kicked the 
poor fellow’s pants clear up to his shoulders. Then the bell rang 
and the belligerent ball players sprang to the platform of the rear 
car and went whirling eastward.” 

Flint — Frank Flint, affectionately called “Old Silver” by 

a Real his team-mates, had a record that stands compari- 

tron Man son with the greatest catching performances of all 
time. In thirteen years of baseball, most of them 
spent with the White Stockings, he caught 935 games, and earned a 

47 


reputation for durability rivaling that of Ray Schalk and Gabby 
Hartnett. Flint worked without a mask or chest protector through¬ 
out most of his career. Upon retiring, he said that every joint in 
every one of his fingers had been broken at least once, his nose 
broken frequently and his teeth smashed. 

Although overshadowed by the more spectacular and colorful 
Mike Kelly, the record shows that Flint was unquestionably the 
better catcher of the two. 

Seasons The loss of Kelly in 1887 and Clarkson in 1888 

of 1887 was looked upon as a death blow to Chicago’s 

and 1888 championship aspirations, but there were still 

plenty of good players in the club. Anson’s team 
finished third in 1887, close behind Detroit and Philadelphia. In 
1888, they were nosed out of first place by New York. 

These seasons were highly successful from a financial standpoint, 
both for the White Stockings and other league members. Attend¬ 
ance figures ran high, and the fans were rabid in their enthusiasm. 
This financial success of the club owners was brewing discontent 
among the players, however, many of whom felt that their earnings 
were too small a share of the returns, and rumblings of revolt were 
beginning to be heard. 

Chicago 9 s From 1887 down to 1900, the Chicago club had 

Winning but indifferent success. Not until 1906, when 

Streak Ended Frank Chance restored the former glory, were 
Windy City fans to see a Chicago team end the 
season on top of the heap. After kicking around in second or third 
place for several years, the White Stockings really hit the toboggan 
slide in 1892, and from then on were lucky to keep out of the second 
division. 

Anson had great faith in his ability to climb the heights again, 
and relinquished the managership still protesting that his colts would 
yet fly the pennant. But Spalding and Hart could see nothing but 
poor seasons ahead, and wanted new blood to win for them. Burns 
was not the manager to do it, however, and neither was the famous 

48 


Frank Selee, who was past his prime and in poor health when he 
came to Chicago. 

Delehanty 
Hits for Four 
Four Times 

out of five times 
time. 

The first time up Delehanty drove a home run into the left field 
bleachers. The second time he belted a long drive to right field for 
another round trip. The third time he hit a sizzling line drive that 
was good for a single. The fourth time he drove another homer to 
deep center. 

On Delehanty’s last trip to the plate Bill Lange, the Chicago 
center fielder, took a stand between the two club-houses back of center 
field, and dared him to send another that way. Delehanty oblig¬ 
ingly cut loose with a drive that hit the roof of one clubhouse and 
bounded off the other, getting his fourth homer of the day. 

In spite of this remarkable exhibition of batting, Delehanty failed 
to win the game, for Philadelphia lost to the White Stockings, 8 to 6. 

The Brother - This period in the late nineties was a particularly 

hood Baseball dismal one for local fans, but was enlivened 
Wars somewhat by the players’ revolt in the Brother¬ 

hood war. 

The National Brotherhood of Base Ball Players was an organiza¬ 
tion to protect the rights and interests of its members. Led by John 
Montgomery Ward, star player of the New York club, its influence 
was first felt in 1887, when it forced the league to adopt a new form 
of players’ contract. Discontent had been growing in the ranks for 
some time. The principal grievances were: first, the reserve rule, 
under which a player’s contract gave the club an option on his 
services for the following year, thus enabling the club owner to “sell” 
him at the end of the season; second, the failure of players to share 
in the profits from such sales; and third, a feeling that salaries were 

49 


Many Chicago fans are old enough to remember 
the one-man field day staged by Ed Delehanty at 
the old West Side park in 1897, when the Philadel¬ 
phia player made four “grand” tours of the bases 
at bat, and for good measure got a single the other 


not as high as gate receipts warranted. During the next two years 
the Brotherhood vigorously campaigned to free the players from 
a condition which they regarded as equivalent to slavery. 

“Are Baseball Under the provocative title, “Is the Base Ball 

Players Player a Chattel?”, an article by John M. Ward 

Chattels?” appeared in Lippincott’s magazine in 1887. It 

was chiefly an attack on the reserve rule. Among 
other things, Ward said: 

“The clubs claim that the right to retain the services of a valuable 
player was necessary for the conservation of the game, and with that 
understanding the players tacitly acquiesced in the seizure. They 
never received any consideration for the concession, and when the 
Chicago club sells Kelly for $10,000, it simply makes that sum out 
of Kelly. . . . Kelly received his salary from Chicago and earned 
every dollar of it several times over, and yet the Chicago club takes 
ten thousand dollars for releasing Kelly from a claim for which it 
never paid a dollar. . . . 

“Even were we to admit, for the sake of argument, that the 
reserve-rule does give a right to sell, we naturally ask, ‘What con¬ 
sideration did the club ever advance to the player for this right? 
What did the Chicago club ever give Kelly in return for the right to 
control his future services? . . .’ ” 

New League In November 1889, the Brotherhood issued a 
Is Formed public statement, announcing that it intended to 
start its own baseball league, operated by and for 
ball players. The sharpest paragraph in this manifesto was the 
following: 

“Players have been bought, sold and exchanged, as though they 
were sheep, instead of American citizens. Reservation became an¬ 
other name for property rights in the player. By a combination 
among themselves, stronger than the strongest trusts, they were able 
to enforce the most arbitrary measures, and the player had either to 
submit or get out of the profession, in which he spent years in attain¬ 
ing proficiency. Even the disbandment and retirement of a club did 
not free the players from the octopus clutch, for they were then 
peddled around to the highest bidder.” 

The Brotherhood entered the season of 1890 with an eight-club 
50 


league: Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, 
Buffalo, Pittsburg, and Cleveland. 

Thus for one year there were three major leagues, the Player’s 
League, the National League, and the old American Association, 
None of them prospered. The Players’ League, although it had high 
ideals, was lacking in efficient business management, and the National 
League throttled the upstarts by scheduling games on conflicting dates 
in cities where each had a competing team. At the end of the season 
the Players sold out to the National League, and the war was over. 

The Brotherhood League, though short-lived, was important to 
Chicago, not so much because this city was represented in it, but 
because it introduced for the first time in the role of league manager 
a native Chicagoan, Charles A. Comiskey. 

Comiskey — Of all the great playing managers who have made 
a Native history on the baseball diamonds of Chicago, 

Chicagoan Comiskey is the only native of the Windy City. 

He was born on the West Side in 1859, the son 
of John Comiskey, a prominent citizen and member of the city 
council. 

Comiskey first broke into baseball in 1876 as a volunteer pitcher 
for the Libertys, a local amateur team. He also played at St. Mary’s 
college in Kansas, for the Alerts in Milwaukee, for Dubuque in the 
Northwestern League, and finally became a member of the famous 
St. Louis Browns of the old American Association. 

After joining the Browns in 1882 (he had in the meantime 
become a first-baseman), Comiskey entered his real period of fame 
as a player, manager, and club owner. 

Comiskey’s Opinions are divided as to Comiskey’s value as 
Brilliant a player. He was not the equal of Anson, either 

Record in fielding or hitting. But he had a cool head, a 

lightning fast brain, and was a daring base-runner. 

As manager of the Browns from 1884 to 1889 his greatest 
triumph was scored over the Chicago White Stockings. In the 1880’s, 
the American Association was counted as a major league, and its 


51 


pennant winners met the champions of the National League, in a 
post-season series for the world’s championship. In 1885, Com- 
iskey’s Browns tangled with Anson’s White Stockings as the winners 
of their respective leagues. The series ended in a draw, each team 
winning three games and tying one. The following year they met 
again, and this time the Browns were victorious, four games to two. 
During the seven years that Comiskey managed them, the Browns 
never finished lower than second place. 

Comiskey*s Comiskey would scarcely figure at all in the history 
First Chicago of Chicago baseball before 1900 if it had not been 
Team for the Brotherhood war. He came here in 1890 

to manage the Chicago club of the ill-fated Players’ 
League, in a new park at 35th street and Wentworth Avenue, a 
neighborhood later made famous by another white-stockinged team. 

In 1891, Commy was approached by A. G. Spalding with the 
proposition to start a rival team in Chicago, using the south side park. 
It was Spalding’s idea that Chicago could support two first-class clubs. 
But with the American Association tottering on its last legs, and 
Spalding failing to offer any financial assistance, Comiskey gave 
up the plan, although it was his cherished dream to have a permanent 
baseball team in his native city. He went back to St. Louis to manage 
the old Browns for the final year of their existence and that of the 
old American Association. 

Catching Old-timers like to tell the story of the most sensa- 

Them on tional catch ever made at the old West Side park. 

the Wing As related by the late A1 Spink, veteran baseball 

writer, the performer was one Elmer Foster, center 
fielder for an Eastern team. 

In those days because of the ball parks’ layout, fielders had to 
contend with shadows cast by the grandstand, and sometimes had 
considerable difficulty in seeing fly balls. 

In this instance, a Chicago player took a terrific swing, and at 
the crack of the bat Foster began running toward deep center. 
Actually, although it sounded like a hard-hit ball, it was an easy 
grounder, which the shortstop fielded and threw to first for the out. 


52 


But Foster kept running back like mad toward the fence. “Look 
at Foster,” yelled the bleacherites. “What does he think he is after?” 

Foster ran almost to the fence, jumped into the air, and came 
down—with an English sparrow in his grasp. 

The The last years of the century saw no upswing in 

Closing the fortunes of the Chicago National Leaguers. 

Tears Under the management of Burns, they finished 

fourth in 1898, and eighth in 1899 in a twelve-club 
league. The next year they finished fifth in an eight-club league. 

The most important development in the baseball world during 
the closing years of the 1890’s was the birth of a new minor league 
that soon challenged the baseball monopoly of the National League. 
This was the old Western League, founded in 1893 by Byron Bancroft 
Johnson, Charles A. Comiskey, and Matt Killilea. 

In December, 1891, the old American Association was killed 
through a deal whereby the National League bought out the Boston, 
Milwaukee, Columbus, Washington, and Chicago,* franchises of 
the Association, and admitted Baltimore, Louisville, St. Louis, and 
another Washington team to membership in the National League. 

American The twelve-club circuit created by this deal was 

League unwieldy. Ban Johnson realized that there was 

Established an opening for another major league to replace 

the old American Association. He moved slowly, 
however, for the experiences of the short-lived Union and Players’ 
Leagues had shown the danger of direct attack upon the National 
League. Accordingly, he tried first to build up a strong minor league. 
In laying the ground work for the new league, he had the support 
and assistance of Comiskey, then managing the Cincinnati Nationals, 
and of Killilea, a Milwaukee sportsman. 

Johnson’s forceful personality drove the Western League through 
early troubles to success. In 1900 he decided to convert his league 
into one of national scope to be called the American League and 

♦Permission was given to locate an American Association team in Chicago in 1892, under 
the management of Fred Pfeffer, but the association broke up before the franchise 
could be used. 


53 



demanded permission of the National League to locate a team in 
Chicago. This was bitterly opposed by the old league, but the elder 
organization was passing through stormy times, and finally had to 
give in. Accordingly, the National League was reduced to eight 
clubs, and the American also played an eight-club circuit. 

The twentieth century found Chicago, key city of major league 
baseball, with a new club headed by Comiskey. However, the new 
organization did not reach major league status until 1901. 


RULES—OLD AND NEW 

First While General Abner Doubleday is credited with 

Code the invention of baseball, his greatest contribution 

of Rules was that of a playing field or diamond which has 

retained the same dimensions ever since. Double¬ 
day does not appear to have offered much in the way of rules. 

The first code of rules on record was prepared by the Knicker¬ 
bocker Club of New York in 1845 comprising only fourteen brief 
sections. One of the most interesting was the method of scoring. 
Games continued, regardless of the number of innings, until one 
team made 21 aces, or runs, provided that both teams had played 
the same number of innings. 

Under the first rules, and for many years thereafter, the pitcher 
was required to pitch, not throw, the ball. This meant that an under¬ 
hand motion had to be used. The Knickerbocker rules also provided 
that a batted ball caught either on the fly or on the first bounce was 
an out. 

Except for these provisions, the original baseball rules were 
essentially the same as those of today. However, the rules were too 
simple to cover every possible play, and changes were soon necessary. 

Early In 1857, the nine-inning plan was adopted, with 

Changes the provision that, if necessary, five innings would 

in Rules constitute a legal game. 

There was no called-ball penalty in the early 
rules, and the pitcher was allowed to waste as many pitches as he 

54 


wished. Conversely, the batter had the privilege of swinging only 
at pitches that were to his liking, but was not allowed to delay the 
game or help a baserunner by failing to offer at good balls, a stipu¬ 
lation that must have worked many heated arguments. 


Rules At the National Association of Base Ball Players 

of 1863 convention in 1863, a general revision of the rules 

was made. Among other changes, the pitcher’s 
base point” and home base were required to be marked with iron 
plates. The “out on the first bound” rule was retained, but a year 
later another revision eliminated the bound catch on fair flies, 
retaining it on fouls. 

Up to this time the pitcher had been allowed to take a short run 
in delivering the ball, so long as he did not overstep a line 45 feet 
from the home plate. The rules of 1863 required him to stand still 
and keep inside his box. 

The most important change was the introduction of called balls 
and strikes, but the rule on balls was not clear. It stated that if the 
pitcher failed to get the ball over the plate in a reasonable number 
of tries the umpire was to warn him, and then begin to call balls 
on the wide pitches, three of which entitled the batter to take his 
base. From this it would appear that the batter might have to take 
four or five wild pitches before getting a pass. 


Further In 1867, the batter was given the privilege of 

Changes calling for either a high or a low pitch. This rule 

in Rules was kept in the code for twenty years, in spite of 

its great disadvantage to pitchers. 

The most curious provision of the rules adopted by the National 
Association in 1872 had to do with called balls. If the umpire called 
a pitch a ball, and the batter struck at it and hit it, he could not be 
put out. In other words, if the batter reached for a wide one and 
tapped out a pop fly to a fielder, he was not out, if, in the umpire’s 
judgment, the pitch was a ball. No wonder batting averages grew 
fat in the 1870’s! 


55 


Bases From the time the base on balls was introduced, 

on the question of how many called balls should 

Balls entitle the batter to a walk seems to have vexed 

the rulemakers. For several years three balls was 
deemed a sufficient number. In 1878, the number was fixed at nine, 
giving the pitcher an edge on the batter, which he certainly needed. 

Gradually the number of called balls was reduced. In 1880, it 
was pared down to eight, and in 1881 to seven. In 1884 it was cut to 
six; in 1885 raised again to seven; and back to six in 1886. For the 
season of 1887 it was reduced to five, and finally, in 1889, the num¬ 
ber was fixed at four, where it has remained ever since. 

Rules From the very beginning the familiar “three strikes 

on Strikes and out” has been the rule of baseball — with one 
exception. In 1887, the number was increased to 
four, only to be promptly put back to three again the next year. 

However, what is a strike? The umpire is often unjustly accused 
of not knowing, but for many years the framers of rules were not 
quite sure themselves. As has already been seen, in 1863, the um¬ 
pire was given the power to call strikes. But, as batting grew more 
scientific, the hitters learned to foul off pitches that might otherwise 
have been called against them. No attempt to curb this practice was 
made until 1887, at which time an obviously planned foul was pen¬ 
alized as a strike, but this rule caused such violent arguments that it 
was soon discarded. In 1894, bunted fouls and foul tips that were 
caught were counted as strike. Not until 1901 was the present rule 
adopted, making any foul a strike, until the batter has two strikes on 
him, after which he may foul off as long as he is able. 

Pitching No other department of the game has undergone 

Rules so much change as pitching. Where and how the 

a Problem pitcher should stand — or move — and what sort 
of arm motion he should use in delivering the ball 
were knotty problems until the present-day regulations came into 
effect. 

The earliest rules placed only two restrictions on the pitcher; to 
use an underhand motion, and not to overstep a boundary line forty- 
five feet from the plate. 


56 


In 1858, the pitcher stood behind a twelve-foot line, forty-five 
feet from home plate, but, within those limits, could move about as 
he pleased. By 1863, he had to stand still inside a box twelve feet 
long and four feet wide. In 1872, the box was a six-foot square, with 
its front line forty-five feet from home plate. The square was 
marked by iron corners, and the center line marked by iron plates, 
or quoits, called pitcher’s “points.” From the founding of the National 
League in 1876 until 1881, the pitcher’s box was six feet by four. 

Throw Gradually, with the introduction of the curve ball, 

Finally pitchers began to get away from the underhand 

Legalized motion, but not until 1883 was this fully legalized. 

In that year the pitcher was allowed, for the first 
time, to use a sidearm throw, provided he did not raise his arm 
above the shoulder. 

Pitchers were inclined to deliver their throws with a skip or 
jump that carried them out of their box. To prevent this, a 
large marble slab was placed in front of the box. Many players were 
injured from slipping on the marble, however, others craftily took 
to wearing rubber-soled shoes, and finally the slab was abandoned 
in favor of the more sensible plan of penalizing the pitcher for 
overstepping. 

In 1884, all restrictions on arm motion were removed, but the 
pitcher could take only one step in making the throw. In 1887, he 
was no longer required to pitch high or low as the batter demanded, 
and thus the rules governing pitching became practically the same 
as those of today. 

How Pitchers Baseball writers sometimes refer to pitchers as 
Became “slab artists” and “moundsmen.” In 1893, a 

“Slabmen” small marble slab was adopted, against which the 
pitcher had to keep one foot while delivering the 
ball. (This slab should not be confused with the tombstone sized 
slab of 1883.) The pitcher’s plate was first a small rectangle, 
twelve by six inches,* later increased to its present size of twenty-four 
by six inches. 

•The pitcher’s plate is now made of rubber. 

57 



The expression “on the mound” is derived from the fact that for 
many years it has been customary to elevate the pitcher’s position 
slightly above the rest of the infield, although this was not provided 
for in the official rules until a rather late date. 


Pitching 

Distance 

Changes 

the box, and 


The distance from the pitcher’s box to home plate 
remained at forty-five feet until 1881, when it was 
lengthened to fifty feet. This was again changed 
with the adoption of a pitcher’s plate in place of 
permanently fixed at sixty feet six inches. 


Some Nine men on a side has been so constant a feature 

Miscellaneous that the custom of calling a baseball team a nine 
Developments is about as old as the game itself. 

In 1874, a few teams experimented with a 
tenth player on the field, in a position designated as right short-stop. 
He played where the second baseman usually does, making the sec¬ 
ond baseman a sort of roving short-center fielder. The Chicago 
White Stockings played a game with the Atlantics on July 29, 1874, 
using a tenth man, and the experiment was termed a success, but the 
idea failed to win general favor. 

The changes in size and composition of the official baseball have 
been many, but of no great interest. It has always been a hard, 
leather-covered sphere, and size variations have not been great. As 
noted elsewhere in this book, livelier baseballs were used more in 
some years than in others; the modern ball is slightly more resilient 
than any of the old ones. 

Until 1872, a bat could be any length, but since that time forty- 
two inches has been the limit. Its greatest thickness was then fixed 
at two and one-half inches, and later increased a quarter of an inch. 
An effort was once made to popularize a square bat, and at one time 
it was permissible to have one side flattened for bunting, but with 
these exceptions the bat has always been round and tapering. 

What To give a complete account of all the rule changes 

the Rules and developments would be far beyond the scope 
Have Done of this work. Nearly every year saw the adoption 

58 


of new rules or revisions. Yet the majority of these changes did 
not touch the fundamental playing conditions of baseball. They were 
directed rather toward the refinement and perfection of the existing 
sport. 

With some blunders along the way, this aim has been accom¬ 
plished. Few games have as complicated a system of rules as 
baseball, yet its intrinsic elements are easily understood by anyone. 
No important rule changes have been made in the past thirty years, 
and none seems desirable — a high tribute to the men who devoted 
their lives toward perfecting the national game. 


59 


PENNANT WINNERS IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE 
1876 -1900 


Year 

Teams Represented 

Winner 

Chicago’s Place 

1876 

Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, 

Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, 
New York, Cincinnati. 

Chicago 

First 

1877 

Boston, Hartford, Chicago, St. 

Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati. 
(Cincinnati was expelled for non¬ 
payment of dues during the season.) 

Boston 

Fifth 

1878 

Boston, Cincinnati, Providence, Chi¬ 

cago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee. 

Boston 

Fourth 

1879 

Boston, Cincinnati, Providence, Chi¬ 
cago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Syracuse, 
Troy. 

Providence 

Third 

1880 

Boston, Buffalo, Providence, Cincin¬ 

nati, Chicago, Cleveland, Syracuse, 
Troy. 

Chicago 

First 

1881 

Boston, Detroit, Providence, Chica¬ 

go, Cleveland, Buffalo, Worchester, 
Troy. 

Chicago 

First 

1882 

Boston, Detroit, Providence, Chica¬ 

go, Cleveland, Buffalo, Worchester, 
Troy. 

Chicago 

First 

1883 

Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Providence, 

Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, 
Philadelphia. 

Boston 

Second 

1884 

Chicago, Boston, Providence, Detroit, 

Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, 
Philadelphia. 

Providence 

Fourth 

1885 

Chicago, Boston, Providence, Detroit, 

St. Louis, Buffalo, New York, 
Philadelphia. 

Chicago 

First 

1886 

Chicago, Boston, Washington, De¬ 

troit, Kansas City, St. Louis, New 
York, Philadelphia. 

Chicago 

First 

1887 

Chicago, Boston, Pittsburg, Detroit, 

Washington, Indianapolis, New 
York, Philadelphia. 

Detroit 

Third 

1888 

Chicago, Boston, Pittsburg, Detroit, 

Washington, New York, Philadel¬ 
phia, Indianapolis. 

New York 

Second 


60 


























Year 

Teams Represented 

Winner 

Chicago's Place 

1889 

Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, 
Cleveland, Pittsburg, Washington, 
Indianapolis, New York. 

New York 

Third 

1890 

Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, 
Brooklyn, Cincinnati, New York, 
Cleveland, Pittsburg. 

Brooklyn 

Second 

1891 

Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, 
Brooklyn, Cleveland, Pittsburg, 
Cincinnati, New York. 

Boston 

Second 

1892 

Chicago, Boston, Louisville, Brook¬ 
lyn, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincinnati, 
New York, St. Louis, Philadelphia, 
Washington, Baltimore. 

Boston 

Seventh 

1893 

Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, 
Brooklyn, Louisville, Pittsburg, 
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, 
Washington, New York, St. Louis. 

Boston 

Ninth 

1894 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Louis¬ 
ville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincin¬ 
nati, New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, St. Louis, Baltimore. 

Baltimore 

Eight 

1895 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Louis¬ 
ville, Pittsburg, St. Louis, Cleve¬ 
land, New York, Philadelphia, 
Cincinnati, Washington, Baltimore. 

Baltimore 

Fourth 

1896 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Louis¬ 
ville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincin¬ 
nati, New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, St. Louis, Baltimore. 

Baltimore 

Fifth 

1897 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Louis¬ 
ville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincin¬ 
nati, New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, St. Louis, Baltimore. 

Boston 

Ninth 

1898 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Louis¬ 
ville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincin¬ 
nati, New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, St. Louis, Baltimore. 

Boston 

Fourth 

1899 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Louis¬ 
ville, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincin¬ 
nati, New York, Philadelphia, 
Washington, St. Louis, Baltimore. 

Brooklyn 

Eighth 

1900 

Chicago, Boston, Brooklyn, Pitts¬ 
burg, Philadelphia, St. Louis, 
Cincinnati, New York. 

Brooklyn 

Fifth 


61 




































SOME UNUSUAL CHICAGO RECORDS BEFORE 1900 

The first shut-out score by a professional team was made in 1870 
when the Chicago club defeated the Atlantics of New Orleans, 51 to 0. 
Chicago also registered the first shut-out in the National League when 
it defeated St. Louis 1 to 0 in 1876. Either of these victories may have 
started the custom of calling shut-outs “Chicago scores,” which 
persisted down through the 1890’s. 

The most one-sided contest in professional baseball occurred on 
June 18, 1874 when Chicago was defeated 38 to 1, by the Brooklyn 
Mutuals. 

The largest number of runs in a single inning was made by the 
White Stockings in a game with Detroit, September 6, 1883. In the 
seventh inning Chicago made 18 hits and 18 runs. 

The White Stockings, on June 29, 1897, defeated Louisville, by a 
score of 36 to 7, a record for baseball played under modem conditions. 

In 1896, Lange of Chicago led the National League in base stealing 
with 100 stolen bases. He led the league again in 1897, with 83 thefts. 

John Luby, White Stockings pitcher, won seventeen consecutive 
victories in 1890. 

James McCormick of Chicago won sixteen straight in 1886. As 
the pitcher was then required to throw high or low as the batter de¬ 
manded, this record merits comparison with longer strings of con¬ 
secutive victories. Luby’s record was made after this restriction was 
abolished. (Luby was generally credited with winning 20 straight 
games until the publication of Richter’s History and Records of Base¬ 
ball in 1914. The best record under modern conditions was made by 
Rube Marquard of the New York Giants, who won 19 straight in 1912. 
The best record under the high or low ball rule was made by Charles 
Radbourn of the Providence National League club in 1884, who won 18 
in a row.) 

John Clarkson, greatest of old-time Chicago pitchers, made his 
best record after leaving the Chicago club. In 1889, he pitched 72 
games for Boston, winning 46. The most remarkable thing about 
such old-time records is that until the 1890’s there were usually not 
more than two, at most three, pitchers on a team, and the best pitcher 
worked more than half the games. Today a ball-tosser feels overworked 
if asked to pitch more than twice a week. 

Although he was not a Chicago player when he performed his feat, 
Paul Hines deserves mention as the first player to make a triple play 
unassisted. He made this sensational put-out of three men in 1879, 
while playing with the Providence, R. I., club. Hines was a fielder 
with the Chicago White Stockings from 1874 to 1877. For the benefit 
of fans who have never seen any sort of triple play, here is how Hines 
did it: With runners on second and third, a short fly was hit to center. 
Believing the fly could not be caught, the man on base began to run for 
third and home. Hines, playing center field, came in on a dead run, 
making a remarkable catch as he came. Then, without pausing, he 
tagged second base, and ran on to third and tagged there before either 
runner could get back. 


62 


CASEY AT THE BAT 

By Ernest Lawrence Thayer 


[De Wolfe Hopper is said to have given immortality to this 
baseball lyric by his many and matchless recitations of it. However, 
“Casey at the Bat” has a life of its own, and if Hopper had not made 
it his by hundreds of public recitations, it would still be worth pre¬ 
serving. It has all the emotions experienced by the fan as he watches 
his favorites rise and fall: the gloom of impending disaster, the spark 
of hope which rises from a few safe hits, the fire of renewed 
belief, and — as so often happens — the final crushing blow. It has 
the spirit that was born in old-time baseball, the spirit that today 
moves every real fan and player.] 

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day; 

The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play; 

And so, when Cooney died at first, and Burrows did the same; 

A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. 

A struggling few got up to go in deep despair, the rest 
Clung to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast; 

They thought, if only Casey could but get a whack, at that, 

They’d put up even money now — with Casey at the bat. 

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake, 

And the former was a pudding and the latter was a cake; 

So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat, 

For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat. 

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all, 

And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball; 

And when the dust had lifted, and they saw what had occurred. 

There was Jimmy safe on second, and Flynn a-hugging third. 

Then from the gladdened multitude went up a joyous yell. 

It bounded from the mountain-top, and rattled in the dell; 

It struck upon the hillside, and recoiled upon the flat; 

For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat. 

There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place; 

There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face; 

And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat, 

No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat. 

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt, 

Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt; 

Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, 

Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip. 

63 


And now the leather covered sphere came hurtling through the air. 

And Casey stood a-watching it, in haughty grandeur there; 

Close by the sturdy batsmen the ball unheeded sped, 

“That ain’t my style,” said Casey; “STRIKE ONE,” the umpire said. 

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar, 

Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore; 

“Kill him: KILL THE UMPIRE!” shouted some one in the stand, 

And it’s likely they’d have killed him, had not Casey raised his hand. 

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone; 

He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on; 

He signalled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew, 

But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said “STRIKE TWO.” 

“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and the echo answered “fraud!” 
But a scornful look from Casey, and the audience was awed; 

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain. 

And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let the ball go by again. 

The sneer is gone from Casey’s lips, his teeth are clenched in hate, 

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate; 

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, 

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow. 

Oh! somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright, 

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; 

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; 

But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out. 


64 




Anson and his “Colts” of 
the late 1890’s. 


Mike Kelly, “The ten thousand 
dollar beauty” 


Charles A. Comiskey, Chicago’s great 
playing manager. 


Comiskey’s Brotherhood Team 
of 1890. One of the greatest com¬ 
binations of stars that ever played 
in Chicago. 























mmrngj 



Officials of the Fork: 
vice-president; Claude 
and founder of the mu 


st Park Baseball Museum. Left to right: Lloyd W. Lehman, 
A. Walker, secretary-treasurer; Emery A. Parichy, president 
seum. 




































THE FOREST PARK BASEBALL MUSEUM 


Fans who would like to know more about old-time baseball 
may do so without journeying far if they live in Chicago or the 
immediate vicinity. In Forest Park, a Chicago suburb, is 
located the Forest Park Baseball Museum, a shrine of worship 
for the more ardent devotees of the game. 

Founded in 1933 by Emery A. Parichy, a business man 
who makes a hobby of baseball, this museum contains an exten¬ 
sive collection of baseball literature, pictures, and mementoes. 
There are rare prints of teams dating back to the earliest years, 
books not found elsewhere, balls with the autographs of nearly 
all the big leaguers of recent years, and curiosities such as 
masks, bats, gloves and other playing equipment used by famous 
players. Much of the material contained in the museum was 
of great value in the preparation of this book. 

Associated with Mr. Parichy in the operation of the museum 
as a non-profit organization are Claude A. Walker, secretary- 
treasurer, and Lloyd W. Lehman, vice-president. They have 
been aided in building up their collection by donations from 
club and league officials, players, fans, and baseball writers. 

So far as can be learned, there is only one other baseball 
museum in the country, the one at Cooperstown, New York. But 
to Chicago, the cradle of the National League, a city that has 
been represented in organized baseball continuously since the 
beginning, belongs the honor of having such a museum no less 
than to Cooperstown. For the preservation of its records and 
relics, baseball needs more such institutions. All too soon the 
old-timers will be but a faded memory, with none to say, “I 
knew them when—,” and in years to come, the immortals of 
today will likewise need such memorials. 







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